On June 5, 2025, the US Supreme Court held, in a unanimous decision, that civil litigants in US courts seeking to enforce an arbitration award against foreign nations or instrumentalities do not need to meet a higher standard...more
The Supreme Court recently confirmed in a unanimous decision the requirements for personal jurisdiction over foreign states when parties seek to confirm international arbitration awards, but important questions remain. In...more
In a unanimous decision on June 5, 2025, the Supreme Court of the United States overturned a Ninth Circuit decision declining to enforce a US$ 1.3 billion arbitral award issued to Devas Multimedia Private Ltd. ("Devas"), an...more
On June 5, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously reversed a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision requiring a plaintiff seeking to confirm an arbitration award against a foreign state to prove minimum contacts with the...more
To resolve longstanding confusion over the scope of foreign countries' sovereign immunity in U.S. courts, Congress in 1976 passed the Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act ("FSIA"). The FSIA draws a bright line: "foreign states and...more
On June 5, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court in CC/Devas (Mauritius) Ltd., et al. v. Antrix Corp., et al., No. 23-1201 held that personal jurisdiction exists over a foreign entity under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA)...more
On June 5, 2025, in a unanimous decision authored by Justice Alito, the United States Supreme Court held that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 (FSIA), 28 U.S.C. §§1330, 1602 et seq., does not require a plaintiff...more
On June 5, 2025, the Supreme Court issued its unanimous opinion in CC/Devas (Mauritius) Ltd. et al. v. Antrix Corp. Ltd. et al. (605 U.S. ___ (2025)), holding that personal jurisdiction exists over an enforcement action...more
The Supreme Court of the United States issued six decisions today: Ames v. Ohio Dept. of Youth Services, No. 23-1039: This case addresses whether majority-group plaintiffs are held to a heighted evidentiary standard in...more
I am proud to announce the publication in the Chapman Law Review of my article: “Turnabout is Foul Play: Sovereign Immunity and Cultural Property Claims”. As the article explains, the Roberts Court has contorted beyond...more
In Samantar v. Yousuf, the US Supreme Court held that foreign officials, when sued in their individual capacity, are subject to immunity under a similar, but different set of rules that govern lawsuits against foreign states....more
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
Key Takeaways: The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that a party cannot establish the U.S. commercial nexus required to invoke the FSIA’s expropriation exception by alleging a foreign state expropriated property in...more
Last week, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in Republic of Hungary v. Simon, a case concerning the scope of immunity under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act’s (FSIA) expropriation exception....more
On February 21, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Republic of Hungary v. Simon, holding that the commercial nexus requirement of the expropriation exception to the Federal Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 (FISA) — which is...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 a highly anticipated ruling published last month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled in NextEra Energy v. Spain that U.S. district courts have jurisdiction to enforce arbitral awards issued in intra-EU...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit recently dismissed a long-running dispute against Russia concerning the library of the Lubavitcher Rebbe (the Library), a collection of books and papers once held by the...more
After it became clear that they would lose World War II, Nazi Germany and Hungary raced to complete their eradication of the Jews before the Axis surrendered. The Axis powers wiped out more than two-thirds of Hungary’s...more
The doctrine of sovereign immunity is a foundational element of the interplay between a governmental investor’s contractual obligation to satisfy capital calls and a fund’s or lender’s ability to enforce that obligation...more
Today, the Supreme Court of the United States issued three decisions: MOAC Mall Holdings LLC v. Transform Holdco LLC, No. 21-1270: This bankruptcy case involved the interpretation of Bankruptcy Code § 363(m) and its...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
Today, the Supreme Court of the United States issued the following three decisions: Federal Republic of Germany v. Philipp, No. 19-351: In this Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (“FSIA”) case, the respondents - heirs of...more