William S. Dodge

Second Circuit Again Limits Extraterritorial Reach of Commodity Exchange Act

In Laydon v. Coöperatieve Rabobank U.A., the Second Circuit once again held that the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) does not apply to futures contracts traded on U.S. exchanges that are tied to the values of foreign commodities. Although the transactions in this case undoubtedly occurred in the United States, the court held that the claims…

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SDNY Rejects Immunity for Former Diplomat in Trafficking Case

To ensure that diplomats can perform their functions without harassment, international law grants them broad immunity from the criminal and civil jurisdiction of the state to which they are accredited. Unfortunately, some diplomats seem to treat such immunity as a license to abuse their domestic servants. Earlier this year, Ingrid (Wuerth) Brunk reported on a…

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Cert Petition Highlights Split on Extraterritorial Application of Civil RICO

In RJR Nabisco v. European Community (2016), the Supreme Court held that RICO’s civil cause of action requires a domestic injury to business or property. The Court noted, however, that “[t]he application of this rule in any given case will not always be self-evident, as disputes may arise as to whether a particular alleged injury…

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Does the TVPRA Apply Extraterritorially? Thoughts on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Amicus Brief in Doe v. Apple

As the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly limited the scope of the implied cause of action under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS), victims of human rights abuses have looked to other U.S. statutes for remedies. One of these is the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA), which creates a civil remedy against perpetrators and others…

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District Court Dismisses Another Case Against MBS for Lack of Personal Jurisdiction

Two weeks ago, while King Salman was appointing Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman (MBS) as Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia in an apparent bid to secure him head-of-state immunity in a suit brought by Jamal Khashoggi’s widow, the judge in a different case quietly dismissed another plaintiff’s claims against MBS for lack of personal jurisdiction….

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District Court Dismisses Mexico’s Suit Against U.S. Gunmakers

Last week, the federal district court for the District of Massachusetts (Chief Judge Dennis Saylor) dismissed a complaint brought by Mexico against seven U.S. gun manufacturers and one distributor. According to the complaint, the defendants design, market, and sell guns in ways they know will arm Mexican drug cartels. Mexico has strict gun laws, but an…

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Supreme Court Grants Review in Three Transnational Litigation Cases

Today, the Supreme Court granted review in three transnational litigation cases and denied review in three others. Emma White has discussed each of the cases in greater detail. In Turkiye Halk Bankasi A.S. v. United States, the Court will consider whether the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act applies to criminal proceedings. Chimène Keitner has previously analyzed…

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MBS’s Appointment as Saudi Prime Minister Gives Him Head-of-State Immunity

On Tuesday, King Salman appointed Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman (MBS) as Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia. The appointment makes MBS Saudi Arabia’s head of government, thereby entitling him to “head of state” immunity under U.S. law and customary international law. The appointment comes just days before an October 3 court deadline for the U.S….

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The U.S. Supreme Court, October Term 2022

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court holds its first conference of the October 2022 Term. The term will officially open next week on the first Monday of October. To help readers keep track of petitions and cases raising interesting questions about transnational litigation, we are pleased to announce our new Supreme Court page. At today’s conference,…

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Solicitor General Recommends That Supreme Court Hear Extraterritorial Trademark Case

Last Friday, the Solicitor General (SG) recommended that the Supreme Court hear Abitron Austria GmbH v. Hetronic International, Inc. to consider when the federal trademark statute, known as the Lanham Act, applies extraterritorially. A jury found that five German and Austrian companies infringed Hetronic International’s trademarks and awarded damages of more than $90 million for violations…

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Ingrid (Wuerth) Brunk

Vanderbilt Law School
ingrid.wuerth@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

León Castellanos-Jankiewicz

Institute for International and European Law
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Paul B. Stephan

University of Virginia School of Law
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Robin Effron

Brooklyn Law School
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Maryam Jamshidi

University of Colorado Law School
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Fikri Soral

Galatasaray University
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Gregg Cashmark

Vanderbilt Law School
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Hannah Buxbaum

Indiana University Maurer School of Law
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Symeon Symeonides

Willamette University College of Law
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Aaron D. Simowitz

Willamette University College of Law
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John B. Bellinger

Arnold & Porter LLP
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R. Reeves Anderson

Arnold & Porter LLP
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Volodymyr Ponomarov

Arnold & Porter LLP
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