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
On February 21, 2025, the US Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in Republic of Hungary v. Simon, further narrowing the scope of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act's exception to sovereign immunity for expropriation...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
The Supreme Court of the United States issued three decisions today: Wisconsin Bell, Inc. v. United States, ex rel. Heath, No. 23-1127: This case considers whether reimbursement requests submitted to the Federal...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
On October 22, 2024, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the Southern District of New York’s decision denying the motion of Turkiye Halk Bankasi A.S. (“Halkbank”), a commercial bank that is majority owned by the...more
On October 22, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit determined that common-law foreign sovereign immunity does not protect Halkbank, a commercial bank, majority-owned by Turkey, from criminal prosecution for...more
On October 22, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled that Türkiye Halk Bankası A.Ş. (“Halkbank”), owned by the Republic of Turkey, can be prosecuted for allegedly helping Iran evade U.S. sanctions and...more
On Oct. 4, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in CC/Devas Ltd. v. Antrix Corp. Ltd. to decide whether either the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act or the U.S. Constitution requires plaintiffs to establish personal...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
Today, the Supreme Court of the United States granted certiorari in 15 cases: Waetzig v. Halliburton Energy Solutions, No. 23-971: This case concerns the intersection between Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41, which...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
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 July 16, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit dismissed the case Wye Oak Technology, Inc. v. Republic of Iraq and Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Iraq, for lack of subject matter jurisdiction because...more
Today, the Supreme Court of the United States granted certiorari in seven cases: United States v. Skrmetti, No. 23-477: This case concerns the constitutionality of state laws banning gender-affirming medical care for...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 U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled on January 9, 2024 that the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection Foundation in Madrid is the owner of Rue Saint–Honoré, après-midi, effect de pluie (1892) by Camille Pissarro, a...more
Background - In 2018, several foreign investors obtained international arbitration awards against the Venezuelan government, which nationalized various industries under then-President Hugo Chávez. After confirming their...more
The long-standing practice to adopt the principle of absolute foreign state immunity by the People’s Republic of China (the PRC) and Hong Kong is coming to an end as the PRC’s Foreign State Immunity Law (the FSIL) is coming...more
Is it possible that the Russian government wants to compensate the aviation leasing companies for aircraft and engines that the government expropriated? Russia expropriated aircraft and engines of multiple U.S. leasing...more