Ingrid (Wuerth) Brunk

Recent Scholarship on Sovereign Immunity from Executive Measures

Immunity protects the assets of foreign sovereigns from the jurisdiction of domestic courts.  Customary international law requires such immunity, which is also conferred in the United States by the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA). An important question about sovereign immunity is whether it also protects the assets of foreign sovereigns from executive branch or administrative…

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Dismissal for Forum Non, With Two Alternative Fora?

The Fourth Circuit recently considered whether dismissal for forum non conveniens is appropriate if the case would have to be bifurcated and heard in two separate courts in the country that provides an alternative forum.  In AdvanFort Co. v. Zamil Offshore Services Co., the court answered “yes,” with one judge dissenting. This might have been…

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$29.8 Million Judgment in First-Ever Helms-Burton Jury Trial

A Cuban-American plaintiff has won a major jury verdict in the Southern District of Florida against four corporate defendants associated with Expedia Group. The case involves an island off the coast of Cuba, which the plaintiff, Mario Echevarría, claimed was expropriated from his family in 1959. The defendants provided digital platforms that allowed travelers to…

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Deciding the “Real Party in Interest” in FSIA Litigation

The Second Circuit has categorized a recent case against an individual Egyptian official as a case against the Egyptian government as the “real party in interest.”  The case, Hussein v. Maait, was then dismissed because Egypt was immune from suit.  The court of appeals did a nice job laying out and applying the relevant “real…

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Devas v. Antrix: Headed back to the Ninth Circuit?

On Monday, the Supreme Court held oral argument in Devas v. Antrix to decide “whether plaintiffs must prove minimum contacts before federal courts may assert personal jurisdiction over foreign states sued under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA).” Minimum contacts between the defendant and the United States might be required as a matter of statutory…

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Foreign States are “Persons”: CC/Devas v. Antrix Amicus Brief

The Supreme Court may soon resolve an important constitutional question: whether foreign states are “persons” entitled to Fifth Amendment due process. For those who engage seriously with the text, history, and structure of the Constitution, there is a ready answer: yes, foreign states are “persons.” The scope of the “process” to which foreign states are…

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Happy New Year!

TLB will be on winter break until January 7, 2025. We wish you all the best in the new year!

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Second Circuit Holds for the Government in Halkbank Remand

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has issued its opinion in U.S. v. Turkiye Halk Bankasi (Halkbank) following the Supreme Court’s decision to remand the case for further consideration of common law immunity issues. The same panel of Second Circuit judges held for the government the first time it heard the case…

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Israeli Data Protection Law No Bar to U.S. Discovery 

A U.S.-based mobile gaming platform called Skillz sued its Israeli-based competitor, Papaya Gaming Ltd., for false advertising and deceptive practices. Skillz claimed that Papaya used “bots,” despite advertising to customers that they would be competing against real humans. Papaya counterclaimed, making nearly identical allegations against Skillz for allegedly misrepresenting that Skillz players compete against people,…

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U.S. and Foreign Litigation Relating to the Events in Gaza

High profile cases against Israel and Germany have been bought before the International Court of Justice, alleging violations of international law with respect to events in Gaza following the October 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas. The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court is seeking five warrants of arrest against Israelis and Hamas leaders for war…

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Ingrid (Wuerth) Brunk

Vanderbilt Law School
ingrid.brunk@vanderbilt.eduEmail

William Dodge

George Washington University Law School
william.dodge@law.gwu.eduEmail

Maggie Gardner

Cornell Law School
mgardner@cornell.eduEmail

John F. Coyle

University of North Carolina School of Law
jfcoyle@email.unc.eduEmail

Hannah Buxbaum

UC Davis School of Law
hbuxbaum@ucdavis.eduEmail

Mehrunnisa Chaudhry

George Washington University Law School
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Victoria Pino

Vanderbilt Law School
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Robert Kry

MoloLamken LLP
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Rinat Gareev

Whitecliff Management
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León Castellanos-Jankiewicz

Institute for International and European Law
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