Talaq Divorce Cases in the United States
Over the past several months, three state appellate courts in the United States have examined whether a “talaq” divorce obtained in another country is entitled to recognition as a matter of comity. In this post, I first survey the rules relating to the recognition of foreign divorce judgments. I then explain the concept of a…
Continue ReadingNatural Resources, Public Policy, and the New York Convention
Georgia (the country) recently argued in Enka Renewables LLC v. Georgia against the enforcement of an arbitral award that would purportedly violate U.S. public policy. Georgia relied on the U.S. public policy in favor of allowing other countries to control the natural resources within their own sovereign territories. But does the United States have such…
Continue ReadingRecognizing Foreign Judgments: Of Personal Jurisdiction, Collateral Estoppel, and Judicial Discretion
In the United States, the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments is generally governed by state law. State law is largely uniform throughout the United States because most states have adopted one of two Uniform Acts. The acts raise fascinating questions of interpretation, and Judge Margaret M. Garnett (Southern District of New York) faced several…
Continue ReadingEletson v. Levona: SDNY Vacates Arbitral Award but Declines to Issue Anti-Enforcement Injunction
An arbitral award that has been vacated by a court at the seat of arbitration can almost never be enforced in other states. But the authority to determine post-vacatur enforceability rests with courts in states where enforcement is sought, not with the vacating court. In a cogent and well-reasoned opinion issued last week, Judge Lewis…
Continue ReadingRecognizing Governments, Recognition of Arbitral Awards
A company based in Barbados won an arbitral award against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (“Venezuela”) and petitioned to have it recognized and enforced in federal court in the United States. Venezuela objected on the ground that the arbitral panel allowed the Maduro regime to replace the lawyers that represented Venezuela – even though Maduro…
Continue ReadingModernizing Foreign Judgments Law
In 1895, the Supreme Court decided Hilton v. Guyot, the foundational case on foreign judgments law. The underlying lawsuit was straightforward. Two American entrepreneurs were sued in Paris by their French business associates in connection with a commercial dispute that occurred in France. When the plaintiffs prevailed, they brought their French money judgment to U.S….
Continue ReadingJurisdictional Puzzles about the Enforcement of Judgments & Arbitral Awards
Two recent cases highlight unsettled questions about jurisdictional limitations on the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgements and arbitral awards. The first, Alterna Aircraft V B Ltd. v. SpiceJet Ltd., addressed whether due process requires the presence of property in the forum state if the court otherwise lacks personal jurisdiction over the debtor. In Alterna,…
Continue ReadingWashington Supreme Court Requires In-State Property for Recognition of Foreign Judgments
To recognize and enforce a judgment rendered in another jurisdiction, a U.S. court need not have in personam jurisdiction over the judgment debtor. The U.S. Supreme Court observed in Shaffer v. Heitner (1977): Once it has been determined by a court of competent jurisdiction that the defendant is a debtor of the plaintiff, there would…
Continue ReadingWho Owns the Li Manuscripts?
Li Rui was born in China in 1917. He joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1937 and became Chairman Mao’s personal secretary in 1958. After Li Rui publicly criticized Mao and the CCP in 1959, he was sent to jail and work camps for the next twenty years. In 1979, Li Rui was released…
Continue ReadingConfusion in the Recognition of Foreign Country Judgments
There are at least three different legal regimes in the United States that govern the recognition of foreign judgments. While the distinctions between these regimes are clear to me—and, I suspect, to many readers of this blog—the same is not necessarily true for many judges and practicing attorneys. In this post, I first discuss a…
Continue Reading