Choice of Law

Latest Developments in Ecuadorian Toxic Tort Case

Since at least the early 1990s, Central and South American residents have been litigating in U.S. courts about their exposure to toxic pesticide called dibromochloropropane (“DBCP”). In the latest decision, Marquínez v. Dole Food Company, Judges Andrews in the District of Delaware held that a consolidated action on behalf of 65 Ecuadorian banana plant workers…

Continue Reading

Two Conflicts Events in Oregon in May

Willamette University College of Law will be hosting two events, back to back, in May that may be of interest to TLB readers. Fifty Years in the Conflicts Vineyard On May 8-9, 2024, Willamette University College of Law and the Conflict of Laws Section of the Association of American Law Schools will hold a symposium…

Continue Reading

Oral Arguments in Billion-Dollar Choice-of-Law Case

On January 10, 2024, the New York Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. v. MUFG Union Bank, N.A. The issue presented in this case, as previously discussed here and here and here, is whether a U.S. court should apply the law of New York or the law of Venezuela to…

Continue Reading

Forum Selection Agreements as Indicators of Implied Choice of Law

Originally posted on the EAPIL blog on 31 August 2023, and currently updated in this blog. In a recent article, I explore what should be globally significant in a forum selection agreement as an indicator of the implied choice of law when the agreement omits a choice-of-law clause. This topic is in itself a very old one,…

Continue Reading

Ninth Circuit Decides Cassirer in Favor of Spain

In 2005, Claude Cassirer sued a state-owned museum in Spain to recover a painting by Camille Pissarro that the Nazis stole from his grandmother. The case went to the U.S. Supreme Court on a choice-of-law question, and the Court held that state, rather than federal, choice-of-law rules should determine the applicable law in cases under…

Continue Reading

New Empirical Study on CISG Litigation

There are a number of empirical studies about the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG). A recent intervention by Carolina Arlota and Brian McCall, When Federal Law Goes Unnoticed: Assessing the CISG’s Applicability Across U.S. Courts Based on an Empirical Research of Decisions from 1988 to 2020, in the…

Continue Reading

Oral Argument in Great Lakes

On October 10, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in Great Lakes Insurance v Raiders Retreat Realty LLC. The issue presented was whether, as a matter of federal admiralty law, a choice-of-law clause in a maritime contract may be rendered unenforceable if enforcement is contrary to the “strong public policy” of the state…

Continue Reading

Choice of Law in Terrorism Cases

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (DDC) is routinely called upon to adjudicate civil cases where plaintiffs bring claims against foreign sovereigns on behalf of themselves or relatives who were killed or injured in terrorist attacks overseas. If the plaintiff is neither a U.S. national, a U.S. servicemember, a U.S. government employee,…

Continue Reading

Cassirer on Remand: Considering the Laws of Other Interested States

Claude Cassirer brought suit in federal court in California eighteen years ago against the Thyssen Bornemisza Museum of Madrid, Spain, to recover a painting by Camille Pissarro that was stolen from his grandmother by the Nazis during World War II.  After a reversal and remand from the U.S. Supreme Court last summer, the case is…

Continue Reading

Update on Cassirer

Last year, the Supreme Court decided Cassirer v. Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection Foundation, a case about choice of law under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA). This post gives a quick update on what has happened since, and where things are going next. Cassirer is a lawsuit about the ownership of a Camille Pissarro painting, surrendered by…

Continue Reading

Ingrid (Wuerth) Brunk

Vanderbilt Law School
ingrid.wuerth@vanderbilt.eduEmail

William Dodge

George Washington University Law School
william.dodge@law.gwu.eduEmail

Maggie Gardner

Cornell Law School
mgardner@cornell.eduEmail

John F. Coyle

University of North Carolina School of Law
jfcoyle@email.unc.eduEmail

Zachary D. Clopton

Northwestern Pritzker School of Law
zclopton@law.northwestern.eduEmail

Noah Buyon

Duke University School of Law
Bio | Posts

Naman Karl-Thomas Habtom

University of Cambridge
Bio | Posts

Ben Köhler

Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law
Bio | Posts

Melissa Stewart

University of Hawai'i, William S. Richardson School of Law.
Bio | Posts

Ian M. Kysel

Cornell Law School
Bio | Posts

Craig D. Gaver

Bluestone Law
Bio | Posts

Gregg Cashmark

Vanderbilt Law School
Bio | Posts

Rochelle C. Dreyfuss

NYU School of Law
Bio | Posts

Linda J. Silberman

New York University School of Law
Bio | Posts

Timothy R. Holbrook

Emory University School of Law
Bio | Posts