China’s Covid Countersuit
As the Covid pandemic raged in 2020, plaintiffs began filing suits in U.S. courts seeking damages from the People’s Republic of China and other Chinese defendants. In March 2025, a U.S. district court awarded the State of Missouri a default judgment for $24 billion against nine Chinese defendants. In November 2025, another district court awarded…
Continue ReadingSupreme Court Grants Cert in Cisco
On Friday, the Supreme Court granted cert in Cisco Systems, Inc. v. Doe I to address two questions: (1) whether claims for aiding and abetting human rights violations can be brought under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS); and (2) whether such claims can be brought under the Torture Victim Protection Act (TVPA). I have discussed…
Continue ReadingSecond Circuit Holds Hague Service Convention Prohibits Email Service on Chinese Defendants
On December 18, 2025, just as TLB was going on holiday break, the Second Circuit issued its decision in Smart Study Co. v. Shenzhenshixindajixieyouxiangongsi, holding that the Hague Service Convention prohibits email service on Chinese defendants. As friend-of-TLB Ted Folkman wrote shortly thereafter, “This is the one we’ve been waiting for.” The question of email…
Continue ReadingAALS Conflicts Section Panel: Extraterritoriality in Flux
Those readers attending the AALS Annual Meeting in New Orleans might be interested in attending the panel sponsored by the Conflicts Section on January 9 at 8:00-9:15. The topic is “Extraterritoriality in Flux” and here is the description: In determining the law applicable in a particular case, a critical step is often to determine the…
Continue ReadingHappy New Year!
TLB will be on break until January 6, 2026. We wish you all the best in the new year!
Continue ReadingSolicitor General Recommends Granting Cert in Cisco
In Doe v. Cisco Systems Inc. (2023), the Ninth Circuit held that claims for aiding and abetting human rights violations could be brought under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS) against Cisco Systems and under the Torture Victim Protection Act (TVPA) against Cisco’s former CEO. The plaintiffs allege that Cisco designed, built, and maintained a surveillance…
Continue ReadingU.S. Courts “International Law” Year in Review Panel Discussion, December 9
The Dispute Resolution and International Law in Domestic Courts Interest Groups of the American Society of International Law, along with the Transnational Litigation Blog, cordially invite you to a hybrid panel discussion on recent key decisions in U.S. courts and legally driven developments in executive branch practice that have significant implications for U.S. foreign relations…
Continue ReadingHappy Thanksgiving
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day in the United States, so TLB is taking a break. We are thankful for you, our readers, around the world. If you celebrate the holiday, we wish you happiness with your family and friends. If you do not celebrate the holiday, we wish you the same. We will be back with…
Continue ReadingNew Developments in U.S. Covid Litigation Against China
Just last month, I wrote about suits filed in U.S. courts against the People’s Republic of China and other Chinese entities for damages arising from the Covid pandemic. In the last two weeks there have been two significant developments. First, on November 14, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi (Judge…
Continue ReadingBook Launch for Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements
The 2005 Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements entered into force ten years ago. As regular readers will know, the United States has signed but not (yet) ratified the Convention. Were the United States to do so, it would mark a significant (and positive) change in the U.S. approach to the interpretation and enforcement…
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