Recognizing Foreign Judgments
When cocktail party conversations turn to foreign judgments—as they often do—it is common to hear people speak of “recognizing and enforcing” such judgments. This is unsurprising because the typical case involves both recognition and enforcement of a foreign judgment. In some cases, however, a U.S. court may be called upon to recognize a judgment but…
Continue ReadingTexas Court Gives Foreign Judgment Broad Res Judicata Effect
Gottwald v. Dominguez de Cano is a not a case that most readers would normally hear of. It is a Texas Court of Appeals decision giving res judicata effect to a Mexican judgment to bar a claim in state court to recover money paid in a Mexican land sale more than a decade ago. But…
Continue ReadingMaximum Comity: Recognition of Foreign Proceedings Under the Bankruptcy Code
Chapter 15 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code governs cross-border insolvency proceedings. It establishes a comity-based framework within which U.S. courts may recognize certain foreign insolvency proceedings and enforce orders issued in those proceedings. Like other U.S. law on the recognition of foreign proceedings, it includes a public policy exception. This post provides a brief overview…
Continue Reading*Another* Federal Statute Relating to Foreign Judgments
The standard story relating to the enforcement of foreign judgments in the United States goes something like this: There is a special federal statute—the SPEECH Act—that applies to foreign judgments for libel or defamation. The State Department is currently in the process of drafting a federal statute that would implement the Hague Judgments Convention and…
Continue ReadingEnforcement Deadlines for Foreign Arbitral Awards and Judgments
In a recent decision, Amaplat Mauritius Ltd. v. Zimbabwe Mining Development Corp. (2025), the D.C. Circuit held that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act’s exceptions for implied waivers and arbitral award enforcement do not apply to proceedings to enforce foreign judgments, even when the judgment is based on an underlying arbitral award. The decision creates a…
Continue ReadingMini-SPEECH Acts
In the United States, it is common for states to enact statutes that mirror those already in operation at the federal level. These state statutes are sometimes described as “mini” versions of a particular federal enactment. A quick internet search turned up references to mini-FTC Acts, mini-WARN Acts, mini-Brooks Acts, and mini-Randolph-Sheppard Acts, among others….
Continue ReadingNigerian Judgment Satisfies Arizona’s Reciprocity Requirement
On July 10, 2025, in Ejeh v. Ali, the Arizona Court of Appeals recognized a Nigerian judgment, finding that Nigeria’s foreign judgments law satisfied Arizona’s reciprocity requirement. Reciprocity requirements are rare in state laws governing foreign judgments—Arizona is one of just five states to have such a requirement. The decision thus affords an opportunity to…
Continue ReadingUtah: A Virtual Gretna Green?
In Jane Austen’s novel, Pride and Prejudice, Lydia Bennet plans to elope to the village of Gretna Green, Scotland with Mr. Wickham. As she explains in a letter: You will laugh when you know where I am gone, and I cannot help laughing myself at your surprise tomorrow morning, as soon as I am missed….
Continue ReadingFederal Circuit Revives Afghanistan Lease Dispute
In a recent decision, Lessors of Abchakan Village v. Secretary of Defense, the Federal Circuit reversed the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (the “Board”) and revived a claim by Afghan villagers for $28 million in unpaid rent on a lease for a U.S. military base. Whether the villagers or the Government of Afghanistan owned…
Continue ReadingThrowback Thursday: Hilton v. Guyot
One hundred and thirty years ago this week, on June 3, 1895, the Supreme Court decided Hilton v. Guyot. Hilton is the seminal decision on recognizing and enforcing foreign judgments in U.S. courts. Although the federal common law rule that Hilton announced has been superseded by state law, Hilton continues to influence state rules in…
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