No Injunction Against Florida Alien Ownership Law
After briefly enjoining the enforcement of Florida’s SB 264, the Eleventh Circuit has reversed course in Shen v. Simpson. The court of appeals held that most of the plaintiffs lack Article III standing and that those with standing are unlikely to succeed on the merits of their claims. It thus affirmed the district court’s denial…
Continue ReadingNYC Event on Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards
An upcoming panel addresses personal jurisdiction, forum non conveniens, immunity, and the enforcement of foreign arbitral awards. It will be held in New York City as part of the 20th Annual Fordham Conference on International Arbitration and Mediation. Details: November 21, 2025 9:30 – 11:00 a.m. | Award Enforcement and Personal Jurisdiction in the United…
Continue ReadingPig-Butchering, Crypto, and Preliminary Injunctions
The US government just announced its largest forfeiture action ever, seeking $15B in Bitcoin from defendants in Cambodia who allegedly swindled victims in the United States and around the world. The indictment alleges a form of fraud known as “pig-butchering,” one of several kinds of crypto-related fraud beginning to generate significant transnational civil litigation in…
Continue ReadingWhen Are Frozen Assets “Blocked” Assets?
The U.S. government’s efforts to quash the attachment of Iranian assets by victims of state-sponsored terrorism have been rejected by the D.C. Circuit. In Estate of Levin v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., the court of appeals reversed Judge Boasberg’s decision in favor of the government, and apparently created a split with the Fifth and Seventh…
Continue ReadingInternational Law Weekend!
This year’s International Law Weekend, an event offered by the International Law Association, takes place October 23-25 in New York City. The program has several panels that may be of interest to TLB readers, including these two: Crisis, Courts, and Sovereigns: Rethinking Immunity and Enforcement in a Shifting Global Order Friday, October 24, 11:30AM-12:45PM in…
Continue ReadingThe New State Capitalism and Foreign Sovereign Immunity
As governments play an increasingly aggressive and direct role in capitalist economic systems (the “new state capitalism”), the line between sovereign and commercial conduct may become more difficult to draw for the purposes of foreign sovereign immunity. For example, Switzerland acted in some ways like a private investment bank when it negotiated a 2023 deal…
Continue ReadingCourt Rejects Trump Administration’s Immunity Statement in UNRWA Case
A federal court has rejected the Trump administration statement of interest regarding the immunity of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). In the Estate of Tamar Kedem Simon Tov et al. v. United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) et al. (SDNY), foreign nationals allege that UNRWA and individual defendants knowingly aided and…
Continue ReadingFlorida Judge Sets Aside Historic Helms-Burton Verdict
More big news in the hot new topic in transnational litigation: the Helms-Burton Act. A Florida district court has set aside the historic $120 million jury verdict awarded to a Cuban-American plaintiff against hotel booking services. The judge held that the plaintiffs offered insufficient evidence that the defendants had “knowingly” “traffic[ked]” in confiscated property. Background…
Continue ReadingInteresting Papers at the ASIL Midyear Meeting, Sept. 26-27
The American Society of International Law is holding its midyear meeting in Cleveland, Ohio on September 26-27, 2025. The midyear meeting includes research fora that focus on draft papers selected through an open, competitive submission process. Several selected papers may be of interest to TLB readers, including: Challenging National Security List Designations in U.S. Courts…
Continue ReadingWelcome, Hannah Buxbaum!
We are excited to announce that Hannah Buxbaum has joined us as a TLB editor! Hannah is an esteemed scholar who writes on jurisdiction, extraterritoriality, and other topics related to international litigation and comparative law. Regular readers may recall her posts on anti-suit injunctions and on the Venezuelan deportation litigation. Hannah just joined the law…
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