Supreme Court Remands CC/Devas v. Antrix

To the surprise of no one, today the Supreme Court reversed and remanded CC/Devas v. Antrix.  The Ninth Circuit had held that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) always requires minimum contacts between the defendant and the United States, an argument so weak that the respondents did not defend it before the Court. The Court held that personal jurisdiction exists pursuant to the FSIA when an immunity exception applies and service is proper. The briefing and argument had focused instead on whether the arbitration exception to the FSIA applies in this case, whether the Constitution requires minimum contacts when foreign states are defendants, and whether the respondents had waived the first of those arguments. The Court’s opinion includes no hint of how it would resolve these issues.  Ninth Circuit, back to you.