Maryland Shuts Down Climate-Change Litigation
Last month, the Supreme Court of Maryland affirmed dismissal of all claims in lawsuits brought by Baltimore, Annapolis, and Anne Arundel County against 26 oil and gas companies alleging that the companies actively deceived the public about the reality and dangers of climate change. The case reached the U.S. Supreme Court in 2021 before being…
Continue ReadingA Tangled Mess in New Hampshire
Characterization plays an important role in conflict of laws. When the choice-of-law rules for contracts are different than the choice-of-law rules for property, a court’s decision to characterize an issue as sounding in “contract” or “property” will inevitably affect which jurisdiction’s law is applied. The New Hampshire Supreme Court grappled with the issue of characterization—though…
Continue ReadingMaryland Shuts Down Climate-Change Litigation
Last month, the Supreme Court of Maryland affirmed dismissal of all claims in lawsuits brought by Baltimore, Annapolis, and Anne Arundel County against 26 oil and gas companies alleging that the companies actively deceived the public about the reality and dangers of climate change. The case reached the U.S. Supreme Court in 2021 before being…
Continue ReadingWho Owns the Li Manuscripts?
Li Rui was born in China in 1917. He joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1937 and became Chairman Mao’s personal secretary in 1958. After Li Rui publicly criticized Mao and the CCP in 1959, he was sent to jail and work camps for the next twenty years. In 1979, Li Rui was released…
Continue Reading$16 billion judgment against Argentina reversed: breach of contract or expropriation?
Private investors in an Argentinian oil company (YPF) sued in the Southern District of New York when Argentina nationalized part of the ownership in YPF. Years of ensuing litigation under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) focused on whether the litigation was based on an expropriation (as the defendants argued) or a “commercial activity” (as…
Continue ReadingSDNY Certifies Class in Major Crypto Case
The Southern District of New York recently certified a class action involving allegations of market manipulation in the cryptocurrency sector. Judge Katherine Polk Failla’s certification order addresses one of the key challenges in this type of litigation: the intersection between limits on the extraterritorial application of U.S. regulatory law and the requirements for class certification…
Continue ReadingIs Nicolás Maduro Immune from Prosecution in U.S. Courts?
Nicolás Maduro was back in U.S. district court last week. According to news reports, the hearing focused on whether he can use Venezuelan government funds to pay his lawyers. Once that question is resolved, he is expected to raise several objections to the court’s jurisdiction to try him. Maduro may argue that the illegality of…
Continue ReadingNew Legislation Aids Claims by Victims of Nazi Expropriations
Congress has passed legislation making it easier for plaintiffs to recover Nazi-looted art and other expropriated property. If the president signs the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery (“Hear”) Act of 2025 into law, defendants will have fewer procedural protections from such claims, including a more limited immunity defense for foreign sovereigns. The legislation illustrates how Congress…
Continue ReadingHappy 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 ReadingSDNY Approves Email Service for Temporary Measures and Contempt
The Second Circuit’s recent decision in Smart Study Co., Ltd. v. Shenzhenshixindajixieyouxiangongsi made clear that defendants located in Hague Service Convention member states that have objected to service by postal channels typically cannot be served by email. Last month, Judge Rakoff of the Southern District of New York addressed an important limit to Smart Study’s…
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