Mandatory Arbitration Except as provided in subsection (h) of this Section 31, any Dispute must be resolved by binding arbitration in accordance with the following:
(a) Either Party may begin arbitration by filing a demand for arbitration in accordance with the Commercial Arbitration Rules of the AAA (the “Arbitration Rules”) and concurrently notifying the other Party of that demand. If the Parties are unable to agree upon a panel of three neutral arbitrators within twenty days after the demand for arbitration was filed (the Parties agree to a reasonable, one-time extension of that twenty-day period), either Party may request the Houston, Texas office of the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) to appoint the arbitrator or arbitrators necessary to complete the panel in accordance with the Arbitration Rules. Each arbitrator so appointed shall be deemed accepted by the Parties as part of the panel. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Parties, by mutual consent, may agree to a single arbitrator instead of a panel of three arbitrators and, in such event, references herein to “panel” shall refer to the single appointed arbitrator.
(b) The arbitration shall be conducted in the Houston, Texas metropolitan area at a place and time agreed upon by the Parties with the panel, or if the Parties cannot agree, as designated by the panel. The panel may, however, call and conduct hearings and meetings at such other places as the Parties may agree or as the panel may, on the motion of one Party, determine to be necessary to obtain significant testimony or evidence.
(c) The panel may authorize any and all forms of discovery upon a Party’s showing of need that the requested discovery is likely to lead to material evidence needed to resolve the Dispute and is not excessive in scope, timing, or cost.
(d) The arbitration shall be subject to the Federal Arbitration Act and conducted in accordance with the Arbitration Rules to the extent that they do not conflict with this Section 31. The Parties and the panel may, however, agree to vary to provisions of this Section 31 or the matters otherwise governed by the Arbitration Rules as permitted by law.
(e) The arbitration hearing shall be held within 60 days after the appointment of the panel. The panel’s final decision or award shall be made within 30 days after the hearing. That final decision or award shall be made by unanimous or majority vote or consent of the arbitrators constituting the panel, and shall be deemed issued at the place of arbitration. The panel’s final decision or award shall be based on the terms and conditions of this Agreement and applicable law.
(f) The panel’s final decision or award may include injunctive relief in response to any actual or impending breach of this Agreement or any other actual or impending action or omission of a Party under or in connection with this Agreement.
(g) The panel’s final decision or award shall be final and binding upon the Parties, and judgment upon that decision or award may be entered in any court having jurisdiction. The Parties waive any right to apply or appeal to any court for relief from the preceding sentence or from any decision of the panel that is made before the final decision or award.
(h) Nothing in this Section 31 limits the right of either Party to apply to a court having jurisdiction to (i) enforce the agreement to arbitrate in accordance with this Section 31, (ii) seek provisional or temporary injunctive relief, in response to an actual or impending breach of the Agreement or otherwise so as to avoid an irreparable damage or maintain the status quo, until a final arbitration decision or award is rendered or the Dispute is otherwise resolved, or challenge or vacate any final arbitration decision or award that does not comply with this Section 31. In addition, nothing in this Section 31 prohibits the Parties from resolving any Dispute (in whole or in part) at any time by mutual agreement or compromise. This Section 31 shall also not preclude the Parties at any time from mutually agreeing to pursue non-binding mediation of the Dispute.
(i) The panel may proceed to an award notwithstanding the failure of any Party to participate in such proceedings. The prevailing Party in the arbitration proceeding may be entitled to an award of reasonable attorneys’ fees incurred in connection with the arbitration in such amount, if any, as determined by the panel in its discretion. The costs of the arbitration shall be borne equally by the Parties unless otherwise determined by the panel in its award.
(j) The panel shall be empowered to impose sanctions and to take such other actions as it deems necessary to the same extent a judge could impose sanctions or take such other actions pursuant to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and applicable law. Each Party agrees to keep all Disputes and arbitration proceedings strictly confidential except for disclosure of information required by applicable law which cannot be waived.
Dispute Resolution; Arbitration This Agreement evidences a transaction involving interstate commerce. Any disputes arising from this Agreement shall be decided by binding arbitration which shall be conducted, at the request of any party, in New York, New York, before one arbitrator designated by the American Arbitration Association (the "AAA"), in accordance with the Commercial Arbitration Rules of the AAA, and to the maximum extent applicable, the United States Arbitration Act (Title 9 of the United States Code). Notwithstanding anything in this Agreement to the contrary, any party may proceed to a court of competent jurisdiction to obtain equitable relief at any time. An arbitrator shall have no authority to award punitive damages or other damages not measured by the prevailing party's actual damages. To the maximum extent practicable, an arbitration proceeding under this Agreement shall be concluded within 180 days of the filing of the dispute with the AAA. This arbitration clause shall survive any termination, amendment, or expiration of the Agreement and if any provision of this arbitration clause is found to be unenforceable, the remaining parts of the arbitration clause shall not be affected and shall remain fully enforceable.
Dispute Resolution and Arbitration The following procedures shall be used in the resolution of disputes:
Arbitration Decisions Unless otherwise agreed by the Parties, the arbitrator(s) shall render a decision within ninety (90) Calendar Days of appointment and shall notify the Parties in writing of such decision and the reasons therefor. The arbitrator(s) shall be authorized only to interpret and apply the provisions of this Agreement and shall have no power to modify or change any provision of this Agreement in any manner. The decision of the arbitrator(s) shall be final and binding upon the Parties, and judgment on the award may be entered in any court having jurisdiction. The decision of the arbitrator(s) may be appealed solely on the grounds that the conduct of the arbitrator(s), or the decision itself, violated the standards set forth in the Federal Arbitration Act or the Administrative Dispute Resolution Act. The final decision of the arbitrator must also be filed with FERC if it affects jurisdictional rates, terms and conditions of service, Attachment Facilities, System Upgrade Facilities, or System Deliverability Upgrades.
Governing Law; Dispute Resolution (a) This Limited Guarantee shall be interpreted, construed and governed by and in accordance with the Laws of the State of New York without regard to the conflicts of law principles thereof that would subject such matter to the Laws of another jurisdiction other than the State of New York.
(b) Any disputes, actions and proceedings against any party or arising out of or in any way relating to this Limited Guarantee shall be submitted to the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (the “HKIAC”) and resolved in accordance with the Arbitration Rules of HKIAC in force at the relevant time (the “Rules”) and as may be amended by this Section 10(b). The place of arbitration shall be Hong Kong. The official language of the arbitration shall be English and the arbitration tribunal shall consist of three arbitrators (each, an “Arbitrator”). The claimant(s), irrespective of number, shall nominate jointly one Arbitrator; the respondent(s), irrespective of number, shall nominate jointly one Arbitrator; and a third Arbitrator will be nominated jointly by the first two Arbitrators and shall serve as chairman of the arbitration tribunal. In the event the claimant(s) or respondent(s) or the first two Arbitrators shall fail to nominate or agree on the joint nomination of an Arbitrator or the third Arbitrator within the time limits specified by the Rules, such Arbitrator shall be appointed promptly by the HKIAC. The arbitration tribunal shall have no authority to award punitive or other punitive-type damages. The award of the arbitration tribunal shall be final and binding upon the disputing parties. Any party to an award may apply to any court of competent jurisdiction for enforcement of such award and, for purposes of the enforcement of such award, the parties irrevocably and unconditionally submit to the jurisdiction of any court of competent jurisdiction and waive any defenses to such enforcement based on lack of personal jurisdiction or inconvenient forum.
(c) Notwithstanding the foregoing, the parties hereto consent to and agree that in addition to any recourse to arbitration as set out in Section 10(b), any party may, to the extent permitted under the Laws of the jurisdiction where application is made, seek an interim injunction from a court or other authority with competent jurisdiction and, notwithstanding that this Agreement is governed by the Laws of the State of New York, a court or authority hearing an application for injunctive relief may apply the procedural Law of the jurisdiction where the court or other authority is located in determining whether to grant the interim injunction. For the avoidance of doubt, this Section 10(c) is only applicable to the seeking of interim injunctions and does not restrict the application of Section 10(b) in any way.
