In 2024, U.S. courts issued consequential decisions in cases brought against foreign states and their agencies and instrumentalities under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (“FSIA”). This alert summarizes key decisions in...more
On December 3, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in Hungary v. Simon. As discussed in a previous client alert, the case concerns whether the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit correctly allowed...more
On December 3, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court heard argument in Republic of Hungary v. Simon. The case involves Hungary’s theft of valuable items from Jewish families during the Holocaust. The plaintiffs sued the Republic of...more
In its recent decision in Agudas Chasidei Chabad of United States v. Russian Federation, the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit clarified the rules surrounding the “expropriation exception” to sovereign immunity under the...more
Since 2010, Simon v. Republic of Hungary has ascended and descended the judicial ladder as federal courts have considered how to interpret and apply the “expropriation exception” of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act...more
On April 19, 2023, the United States Supreme Court issued a highly-anticipated decision in the case of Turkiye Halk Bankasi A.S., aka Halkbank v. United States. The court ruled that Turkish state-owned Halkbank remained...more
The United States Supreme Court has rejected arguments made by Turkiye Halk Bankasi A.S. (“Halkbank”) that, as a majority state-owned bank and thus an agency or instrumentality of the Republic of Türkiye, it enjoys immunity...more
The Court held that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act ("FSIA") does not apply to criminal prosecutions, but left open the possibility that instrumentalities of foreign states may have common law immunity from prosecution....more
Yesterday, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Turkiye Halk Bankasi A.S., aka Halkbank v. United States. This groundbreaking case represents the first known attempt by the United States (or likely any state in modern...more
On April 19, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Turkiye Halk Bankasi A.S., aka Halkbank v. United States, holding that the district court has jurisdiction under 18 U.S.C. § 3231 over the prosecution of Halkbank and that the...more
On Jan. 17, a U.S. citizen brought a $110 million lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia for damages caused by Curaçao and St. Maarten government actors. The basis for the suit, Ansary v. Central Bank...more
As we’ve previously written, complications arise for foreign sovereigns (States) and private companies when they structure commercial transactions. States prefer to hold as much of their immunities as is possible, while...more
On January 17, 2023 the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in Türkiye Halk Bankasi A.Ş. v. United States. The resolution of Halkbank (as the bank is known) invites a sophisticated analysis of foreign sovereign immunity....more
On October 3, 2022, the United States Supreme Court granted certiorari in Turkiye Halk Bankasi A.S. v. United States, No. 21-1450 (“Halkbank”), to determine whether federal courts have subject-matter jurisdiction over...more
This week, the Ninth Circuit examines whether private companies can count as foreign sovereigns for purposes of immunity, and when broad statements can plausibly be read to refer to specific individuals under Washington State...more
We were privileged to file today a petition for certiorari with the Supreme Court of the United States on behalf of our client, art dealer Alexander Khochinsky. The petition asks the Court for reinstatement of a lawsuit...more
The Second Circuit recently held that a denial of a motion to dismiss a criminal indictment based on the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (“FSIA”) is immediately appealable under the collateral-order doctrine but concluded...more
The Situation: On July 10, 2018, the D.C. Circuit held that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act's ("FSIA") expropriation exception to sovereign immunity extended to a sovereign's taking of its own nationals' property in an...more
On February 3, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its anticipated decision in Germany v. Philipp, a case implicating the exception to foreign sovereign immunity for claims arising out of “property taken in violation of...more
On February 3, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Federal Republic of Germany v. Philipp, No. 19–351, holding that the expropriation exception to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) does not apply to a domestic...more
In the last 30 years, the U.S. Congress has enacted several laws enabling victims of terrorism to seek damages in U.S. federal courts. The central piece of legislation in this regard, the Antiterrorism Act of 1990 (ATA), has...more
Foreign states and their agencies engage in a variety of construction projects in the United States, all of which are subject to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (“FSA”)....more
Imagine your client, a real property owner, asks you to draft an enforceable agreement with the owner of the neighboring property. It seems relatively easy, right? Well, no, not if the neighboring property is owned by a...more
My client Alexander Khochinsky is safely back in the United States after an eight-month ordeal spurred by Poland’s retaliation for his assertion of restitution for his mother’s property lost in Poland during the Holocaust....more
PATENT CASE OF THE WEEK - Genetic Veterinary Sciences, Inc. v. LABOKLIN GMBH & Co. KG, Appeal No. 2018-2056 (Fed. Cir. Aug. 9, 2019) - Our case of the week features a foreign University sued for declaratory judgment...more