Curtis Secures Victory for Client in Tenth Circuit; Decision Confirms Bolivian Firm's $36M Award

The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously affirmed the judgment of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado confirming a US$36 million arbitral award issued in favor of Curtis' client, Compañía de Inversiones Mercantiles S.A. (“CIMSA”), against Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua, S.A.B. de C.V. and GCC Latinoamérica, S.A. de C.V. (jointly, “GCC”). In a resounding victory for CIMSA, the Tenth Circuit ruled that the lower court was correct to enforce the award in March 2019 notwithstanding a challenge by GCC to the court’s personal jurisdiction over the Mexican companies, and in rejecting GCC’s assertion that the award was not enforceable in the United States because of pending challenges in Bolivia.

The Curtis team included New York partners Eliot Lauer and Gabriel Hertzberg, and associate Sylvi Sareva, with assistance from Mexico partner Javier Jimenez and associate Ricardo Mier Y Teran.

More information about the underlying arbitration and earlier decisions is available here.