Happy Birthday to TLB!
On March 28, 2022, Transnational Litigation Blog went live. Our very first post, titled Why Transnational Litigation?, listed the many reasons why we thought the world needed a blog devoted to the topic of transnational litigation. While it is unlikely that this post will ever achieve a status akin to the very first sketch on…
Continue ReadingConfusion in the Recognition of Foreign Country Judgments
There are at least three different legal regimes in the United States that govern the recognition of foreign judgments. While the distinctions between these regimes are clear to me—and, I suspect, to many readers of this blog—the same is not necessarily true for many judges and practicing attorneys. In this post, I first discuss a…
Continue ReadingSDNY Enforces Swiss Forum Selection Clause
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit sees a lot of cases involving forum selection clauses. Perhaps as a result, that court has taken the time to articulate a comprehensive, four-step framework for determining how and when these provisions should be given effect. Â In this post, I first discuss a recent case in…
Continue ReadingChoice of Law in the American Courts in 2025
The thirty-ninth annual survey on choice of law in the American courts is now available on SSRN. The survey covers significant cases decided in 2025 on choice of law, party autonomy, extraterritoriality, international human rights, foreign sovereign immunity, adjudicative jurisdiction, and the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments. This annual survey was admirably maintained by Symeon Symeonides for…
Continue ReadingThe Many Uses of the Choice-of-Law Clause
In prior posts, I have written about the things that a forum selection clause can and cannot do. In this post, I do the same for choice-of-law clauses. Among other things, a choice-of-law clause may be invoked to: Select a law to govern the contract and claims related to the contract; Provide support for the…
Continue ReadingForum Selection Clauses and Subject-Matter Jurisdiction
The forum selection clause is the Swiss Army Knife of transnational litigation. It may be used to obtain personal jurisdiction over a defendant who otherwise lacks any connection to the chosen jurisdiction. It may supply a reason for dismissing a case filed in a jurisdiction other than the one named in the clause. It may be deployed to…
Continue ReadingIdiosyncratic Approaches to Enforcing Choice-of-Law Clauses
On December 16, 2025, the Sixth Circuit decided Andujar v. Hub Group Trucking, Inc. The issue presented was whether the Tennessee Supreme Court had adopted Section 187 of the Restatement (Second) of Conflict of Laws as the test for determining whether a choice-of-law clause should be given effect as a matter of Tennessee common law….
Continue ReadingThe Most-Viewed TLB Posts of 2025
To celebrate the end of another year at TLB, I wanted to highlight the posts that received the most views in 2025. A Primer on Choice-of-Law Clauses A Primer on Choice of Law Choice-of-Law Methodologies: Updating the List Throwback Thursday: The Tate Letter and Foreign Sovereign Immunity The $24 Billion Judgment Against China in Missouri’s…
Continue ReadingHappy New Year!
TLB will be on break until January 6, 2026. We wish you all the best in the new year!
Continue ReadingThe Marginal Utility of Choice-of-Law Clauses
I spend a lot of time researching and writing and thinking about choice-of-law clauses. So much so that I sometimes worry that I’ve fallen victim to a cognitive bias known as the law of the instrument or (more colorfully) Maslow’s Hammer. This bias arises when a person acquires a specific skill and thereafter looks for…
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