Locke Lord's Joseph Kosky Counsels Iraqi Government in Unprecedented Settlement of 22-Year Dispute with Kuwait

Locke Lord's Joseph Kosky Counsels Iraqi Government in Unprecedented Settlement of 22-Year Dispute with Kuwait PR Newswire LONDON, Dec. 20, 2012 LONDON, Dec. 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Governments of Iraq and Kuwait have concluded an historic settlement in a bitterly contested dispute that spans more than two decades arising out of events that occurred following the annexation of Kuwait by Iraq in August 1990. The dispute is the subject of the longest running action in the history of the English Commercial Court. Joseph Kosky, a Business Litigation & Dispute Resolution Partner with Locke Lord's London office, who has handled a number of complex cross border disputes, represented the State of Iraq, three Iraqi Ministries, two state-owned Iraqi banks and the state-owned Iraqi airline in the dispute. Various rulings in the marathon case have become leading authorities on aspects of English law and the case is probably one of the most notable and important cases ever to come before an English Court. The legal proceedings began in early 1991 when Kuwait Airways Corporation (KAC) sued the Republic of Iraq and the state-owned Iraqi airline, Iraqi Airways Company. (IAC), seeking approximately $1.8 billion in damages for the loss of 10 aircraft and related inventory in the days following the invasion and annexation of Kuwait by the Saddam Hussein regime. The State of Iraq, represented by Kosky, was initially successful in resisting those claims on the grounds of invalid service.