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Act of State Doctrine The act of state doctrine provides that U.S. courts will not question the validity of an official act of a foreign government fully performed within its own territory. The act of state doctrine is a doctrine of federal common law that is binding on state courts as well as federal courts….
Continue ReadingOn UNRWA’s Immunity
[This post originally appeared at TWAILR and is reprinted here with the author’s permission.] The U.S. government’s attack on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), and indeed on the UN itself, has taken on new form. After instituting an extended freeze on U.S. funding to the…
Continue ReadingTVPRA Claims Against Neil Gaiman
Claims brought under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) don’t often make headlines. But those filed on February 3, 2025 against British author Neil Gaiman and his American wife Amanda Palmer (who are divorcing) are an exception. Scarlett Pavlovich, who worked for three weeks as a live-in nanny for the couple, alleges that Gaiman…
Continue ReadingOral Argument in Doe v. Apple
Last week, the D.C. Circuit heard oral argument in Doe v. Apple, a case brought by victims of forced labor and human trafficking against five U.S. technology companies. The plaintiffs are children or family members of children who were injured or killed mining cobalt in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The defendants—Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft,…
Continue ReadingCert Petition Raises Personal Jurisdiction Question in Context of the TVPRA
The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) explicitly authorizes extraterritorial application to six predicate offenses (18 U.S.C. § 1596) and creates a private right of action (18 U.S.C. § 1595). Assuming without deciding that § 1595’s civil remedy extends extraterritorially to the same extent as those six predicate offenses, the Ninth Circuit in Ratha v….
Continue ReadingA Primer on Forum Selection Clauses
A forum selection clause is a contractual provision that selects a court to resolve disputes. When suit is filed in a court that is not the chosen forum, the clause may provide a basis for dismissal or transfer. When suit is filed in the chosen forum, the clause may provide a basis for the assertion…
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