Personal Jurisdiction, Consent, and the Law of Agency
I have long argued – in articles, blog posts, and amicus briefs – that it violates due process to invoke a forum selection clause to obtain personal jurisdiction over a defendant who was not a party to the agreement in which the clause appears. This position has not yet achieved universal acceptance. The state courts in…
Continue ReadingExhausting Remedies Under the TVPA
In 1992, Congress passed the Torture Victim Protection Act (TVPA) to create an express cause of action against individuals who, under color of foreign law, commit torture or extrajudicial killing. The TVPA has an exhaustion provision requiring courts to dismiss claims under the provision “if the claimant has not exhausted adequate and available remedies in…
Continue ReadingChiquita Liable for Financing Colombian Paramilitary Death Squads
In a win for international human rights advocacy, a Florida jury has found a U.S. corporation liable for human rights violations committed in a foreign country. This first of three “bellwether” trials involved nine cases. Hundreds remain to be tried in this multidistrict litigation. The jury’s verdict is the latest development in a civil case…
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