Transnational litigation is litigation involving persons, events, or transactions with a connection to more than one country. In the United States, transnational litigation may occur in state or federal court. The term encompasses ordinary commercial disputes between parties in different nations, multi-jurisdictional patent wars, and claims based on international human rights law. Transnational litigation cases raise a host of unique issues relating to procedural rules, private contracts, federal statutes, state law, and international treaties.
All I Want for Christmas (from the Federal Courts)
Rounding out this week’s posts by John Coyle and Bill Dodge, here’s my wish list for the lower federal courts (plus a bonus plea to the Supreme Court). Stop Violating Rule 4(f) and the Hague Service Convention Rule 4(f) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure authorizes service of process on defendants “at a place…
Continue ReadingHistorical Gloss and the Extradition Power
In a recently-published book, “Historical Gloss and Foreign Affairs: Constitutional Authority in Practice,” I document how the foreign affairs powers of Congress and the executive branch have been heavily shaped by historic governmental practices, on issues ranging from the recognition of foreign governments to the use of military force. In this post, I discuss one…
Continue ReadingIssue to Watch: Section 1782 and the Unified Patent Court
Section 1782 is big business, with large numbers of petitions filed in federal courts every year. 28 U.S.C. § 1782 is a federal statute authorizing federal courts order discovery for use in a foreign or international tribunal (but not an international arbitral tribunal). The Supreme Court elaborated various aspects of Section 1782 in its 2004 decision Intel Corp. v….
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