Fallout from Cisco in Human Rights Cases, Part I: Al Shimari
As regular readers know, last June the U.S. Supreme Court closed the door on modern human rights claims under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS), holding in Cisco Systems Inc. v. Doe (2026) that the ATS’s implied cause of action does not cover such claims. In two posts, today and tomorrow, I consider recent lower-court developments…
Continue ReadingFallout from Cisco in Human Rights Cases, Part I: Al Shimari
As regular readers know, last June the U.S. Supreme Court closed the door on modern human rights claims under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS), holding in Cisco Systems Inc. v. Doe (2026) that the ATS’s implied cause of action does not cover such claims. In two posts, today and tomorrow, I consider recent lower-court developments…
Continue ReadingDoes the FSIA Permit Trials in Absentia?
During the course of a lengthy litigation, Venezuela stopped defending a lawsuit, due to a change in government. The court set pretrial deadlines, which Venezuela did not meet. The district court did not enter a default, however, because the plaintiff wanted instead to prove his case. The court accordingly held a bench trial (without Venezuela’s…
Continue ReadingMule Deer and Forum Selection Clauses
The El Chaparral Ranch in Sonora, Mexico, aspires to provide a world-class hunting experience “for anyone in pursuit of trophy mule deer, desert bighorn sheep, or the exclusive Coues deer.” In 2016, the Ranch contracted with Abraham Garcia Marmolejo, a U.S. citizen residing in Texas, to promote and sell hunts at the Ranch. Marmolejo would…
Continue ReadingThe New HEAR Act: Just in Time for the Cases That Inspired It?
When President Trump signed the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery Act of 2025 on April 13, 2026, most commentary – including my own – generally discussed the Act as a forward-looking change that would help future claimants. Although I mentioned that the Act would apply to “current” plaintiffs, I did not explain which cases that might…
Continue ReadingRecognizing Foreign Judgments: Of Personal Jurisdiction, Collateral Estoppel, and Judicial Discretion
In the United States, the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments is generally governed by state law. State law is largely uniform throughout the United States because most states have adopted one of two Uniform Acts. The acts raise fascinating questions of interpretation, and Judge Margaret M. Garnett (Southern District of New York) faced several…
Continue ReadingD.C. Circuit Holds Fuld Does Not Apply to District of Columbia
In July, the D.C. Circuit (Judge Justin Walker) held that the local courts of the District of Columbia are still constrained by the minimum contacts test for personal jurisdiction derived from International Shoe Co. v. Washington (1945) and not by the “more flexible” test permitted by the Fifth Amendment after Fuld v. Palestine Liberation Organization…
Continue ReadingUsing TLB to Teach Transnational Litigation (2026 update)
One of TLB’s goals is to compile a set of educational resources for students and teachers. For the past couple of weeks we’ve been publishing updated guides on using TLB to teach different classes (all of which are available at our Teaching Resources page). This post focuses on, well, everything! It describes how teachers of…
Continue ReadingGerman Court Decides U.S. Copyright Claims
The training of artificial intelligence (“AI”) models on copyrighted works, such as books, articles, and songs, has produced disputes about the legality of the use of the works for such a purpose if the training occurs without permission or a license from the copyright owners. Copyright owners and their representatives have now sued AI companies…
Continue ReadingThird Conflict of Laws Annual Workshop
The Third Conflict of Laws Annual Workshop (CLAW3) will be hosted by the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School on Friday, November 13, 2026, with a welcome dinner the night before. The CLAW aims to provide a forum to discuss new work in conflict of laws. The CLAW welcomes work on all aspects of conflict…
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