Fuld v. PLO: Argument Day!
Today, the Supreme Court is hearing oral argument in Fuld v. Palestinian Liberation Organization. The petition asks whether the Promoting Security and Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act of 2019 (PSJVTA) violates the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause by declaring that the PLO has consented to personal jurisdiction based on specified conduct. TLB’s prior coverage…
Continue ReadingFuld Preview: Professor Briefs
Next week, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in Fuld v. Palestinian Liberation Organization. Fuld raises two interrelated issues: (1) Does the Promoting Security and Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act (PSJVTA) provide consent-based personal jurisdiction consistent with Mallory v. Norfolk Southern Railway Co.?; and (2) What are the differences (if any) between the…
Continue ReadingULC International Litigation Study Committee
The Uniform Law Commission (ULC) has formed a Study Committee on International Litigation Procedures. The ULC, also known as the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, was established in 1892 to provides states with non-partisan legislation on critical areas of state statutory law. State law plays a significant role in international litigation. The…
Continue ReadingHappy New Year!
TLB will be on winter break until January 7, 2025. We wish you all the best in the new year!
Continue ReadingIssue to Watch: Section 1782 and the Unified Patent Court
Section 1782 is big business, with large numbers of petitions filed in federal courts every year. 28 U.S.C. § 1782 is a federal statute authorizing federal courts order discovery for use in a foreign or international tribunal (but not an international arbitral tribunal). The Supreme Court elaborated various aspects of Section 1782 in its 2004 decision Intel Corp. v….
Continue ReadingHalkbank and the “Unitary” Executive
Last week, the Second Circuit issued its decision on common law immunity in United States v. Turkiye Halk Bankasi A.S., on remand from the Supreme Court. Ingrid thoroughly summarized the Second Circuit’s ruling earlier this week. This post follows up to flag one further aspect of the decision. As readers know, a central question on…
Continue ReadingInterlocutory Appeals and State Sponsors of Terrorism
In a decision only lawyers could love, the Second Circuit held on September 3, 2024, that it lacked appellate jurisdiction over an interlocutory appeal by the Republic of Sudan brought in a multidistrict litigation (MDL) arising out of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The key issue is when the state-sponsored terrorism exception to…
Continue ReadingNinth Circuit Denies Rehearing En Banc in Cassirer
The legal saga surrounding the Cassirer family’s attempt to reclaim a Camille Pissarro painting seized by the Nazis has taken another step. Litigation in Cassirer v. Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection Foundation has bounced among the Central District of California, the Ninth Circuit, the California Supreme Court, and the Supreme Court of the United States. (For more coverage…
Continue ReadingSuccessor Jurisdiction and Anti-Terrorism Litigation
Transnational litigation often presents tricky questions of personal jurisdiction. Ongoing litigation in New York arising out of rocket attacks by Hizbollah does so in spades. This post reviews the recent New York Court of Appeals decision in Lelchook v. Société Générale de Banque au Liban SAL, answering a certified question posed by the Second Circuit…
Continue ReadingThe Perils of Rule 44.1
Late last month, Judge Malachy E. Mannion of the Middle District of Pennsylvania ruled on a motion for summary judgment in Epsilon-NDT Endustriyel Kontrol Sistemleri Sanayi VE Ticaret, A.S. (“Epsilon”) v. Powerrail Distribution, Inc. (“PowerRail”). From one perspective, this case is an unremarkable business dispute arising out of an international contract. But from another perspective,…
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