$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 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 ReadingThrowback Thursday: The Helms-Burton Act’s 30th Anniversary
Thirty years ago today, on March 12, 1996, President Clinton signed into law the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1996, better known by the names of its principal sponsors as the Helms-Burton Act (“the Act”). The Act was designed to sanction Fidel Castro’s government and to encourage a transition to a democratically…
Continue ReadingEnforcement of Arbitral Awards against Russia for Expropriation of Property in Crimea
The D.C. Circuit recently cleared the way for the enforcement of foreign arbitral awards against Russia for the expropriation of electricity and gas infrastructure in Crimea. Russia argued in the case, Stabil v. Russian Federation, that there was no jurisdiction because the arbitration exception to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) did not apply and…
Continue ReadingA Narrow Interpretation of the FSIA’s Expropriation Exception
Introduction Three generations of the Herzog family have sought to recover some $100 million in artwork stolen by Hungarian government officials and Nazi collaborators during and following World War II. The looted works included pieces by the renowned artists El Greco, Renoir, and Monet. To the family’s disappointment, the Court of Appeals for the D.C….
Continue ReadingD.C. Circuit Allows Venezuela Expropriation Case to Proceed
On October 3, 2025, the D.C. Circuit issued its latest opinion in Helmerich & Payne International Drilling Co. v. Venezuela. Judge Gregory G. Katsas affirmed the district court’s rulings that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act’s (FSIA) expropriation exception allows the plaintiff’s claim, that the district court has personal jurisdiction, and that the act of state…
Continue ReadingTrump Administration Backs Helms-Burton Plaintiffs in Two CVSGs
Last week, the Solicitor General filed briefs recommending that the Supreme Court grant review in two cases under the Helms-Burton Act. Passed in 1996, Helms-Burton allows U.S. nationals who own claims to property expropriated by Cuba to sue any person who traffics in such property, potentially for three times the value of the claim. Under…
Continue ReadingUsing TLB to Teach International Business Transactions (2025 Update)
As the fall semester gets underway, we are updating our posts on using resources on TLB to teach various classes. This post discusses International Business Transactions (IBT). Although TLB focuses on litigation and IBT focuses on transactions, there is a great deal of overlap. The most obvious examples are contractual clauses that plan for dispute resolution,…
Continue ReadingCVSG in Chabad v. Russian Federation: Another Question of Foreign State Immunity
On June 2, 2025, the Supreme Court called for the views of the Solicitor General (“CVSG”) in Chabad v. Russian Federation. In Chabad’s petition for certiorari, the question presented is whether the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA)’s expropriation exception applies to a foreign state if the expropriated property—or property exchanged for it— is located outside…
Continue ReadingSupreme Court Narrows the FSIA’s Expropriation Exception (Again)
(Editor’s Note: This article also appears in Just Security.) Last Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Republic of Hungary v. Simon. Writing for a unanimous Court, Justice Sonia Sotomayor held that commingling the proceeds of expropriated property with other government funds, which are then used for commercial activity in the United States, is not enough…
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