The case of the day is Inversiones Papaluchi S.A.S. v. Superior Court (Cal. Ct. App. 2018). The case arose out of helicopter accident in Colombia in 2011. The defendants brought a cross-complaint against Inversiones Papaluchi, a Colombian entity. Colombia is a party to the Hague Service Convention and has not objected to service by postal channels. The defendants served process by Fedex and email.
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Professor Ingrid Wuerth introduces her new paper on the sovereign immunity of foreign central bank assets in today’s post. I agree with Professor Wuerth about the risk of a loss the US faces before the International Court of Justice, and I would only add the following observation: even in the age when our hegemony was mostly undisputed, the US failed to think ahead on matters of international law. When thinking about central bank immunity, remember that the US dollar won’t always be the world’s reserve currency. When thinking about the Law of the Sea Convention, remember that the US Navy won’t always be the strongest the world has ever seen. When thinking of the Judgments Convention, remember that they won’t always keep all the money in New York. In other words, we should want international law to protect weaker states against stronger states when appropriate because we will not always be the strongest. So yes, Congress has the power to legislate contrary to customary international law, and arguably the Supreme Court’s decision in the case was correct for that reason. But the political branches need a dose of humility and a little foresight.
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The case of the day is AlbaniaBEG Ambient Sh.p.k. v. Enel S.p.A. (N.Y. App. Div. 2018). I wrote about a related procedural decision in March 2016.
AlbaniaBEG was the Albanian subsidiary of Becchetti Energy Group S.p.A., an Italian firm. The defendants, Enel S.p.A. and Enelpower S.p.A., are also Italian companies; Enel is Italy’s largest power company. Becchetti made a contract with Enelpower for the possible construction of a hydroelectric plant in Albania. The agreement had an Italian choice-of-law clause, and it required arbitration of disputes in Rome. Enelpower withdrew from the project, and BEG demanded arbitration. The tribunal’s award dismissed BEG’s claims against Enelpower. BEG sought to nullify the award in the Italian courts, but the courts rejected its claim.
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The case of the day is Ben-Haim v. Edri (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 2018). Sharon and Oshrat Ben-Haim, two Jewish Israelis, were married in Israel in 2008. Before and after the wedding, they lived in New Jersey. They had a daughter after the marriage, who was born in New Jersey. When the family traveled to Israel, the wife filed for divorce in the rabbinical court, which, under Israeli law, had jurisdiction because the spouses were Jews. The rabbinical court issued a writ of ne exeat, but it eventually allowed the husband to return to New Jersey. The daughter remained in Israel with the wife.
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The case of the day is Apindo Corp. v. Toschi Vignola S.R.L. (D.P.R. 2018). Apindo brought claims against Toschi, an Italian company, under Puerto Rico law. Toschi moved to dismiss for insufficient service of process—Apindo had served process by mail, without an Italian translation.
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Long-time readers know that I like to collect examples of fabulous lawyer advertising when I travel. I’ve previously praised the Jodat Law Group, some ads I saw in Woonsocket, and some more dignified examples I saw on a recent trip to Bosnia, Montenegro, and Croatia.
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By now you have read that a grand jury has indicted several Russian nationals for conspiracy and aggravated identity theft in connection with the Special Counsel’s investigation into Russian interference in the presidential election. There is already plenty of news and commentary out there. Here for what it is worth is my reaction to the news.
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The case of the day is Han v. Financial Supervisory Service (S.D.N.Y. 2018). It’s a very odd case. The plaintiff, Karen Han, brought an action against Financial Supervisory Service, which may or may not be an instrumentality of South Korea. The action sought a judgment declaring that if she serves a subpoena for testimony or documents on FSS, FSS will not be entitled to assert foreign sovereign immunity.
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The case of the day is Baylay v. Etihad Airways P.J.S.C. (7th Cir. 2018). Martin Baylay, a British national, was a pilot for Etihad, an Abu Dhabi corporation (and, apparently, an instrumentality of the UAE). Baylay alleged that he was assaulted by Saravdeep Mann, another crew member, during a layover in Chicago. Mann was arrested and released on bond, but he then fled the country with Etihad’s help. The story was covered in the news at back in 2015.
Baylay sued Mann Etihad, and others for damages. Etihad moved to dismiss on the grounds that Baylay’s common law claims were barred by the exclusivity provisions of the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act. Baylay appealed from that decision. His argument was that under the FSIA, only a court could have jurisdiction over Etihad, and therefore, it was error to conclude that Baylay had to pursue his claims before the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission, an administrative agency. The court rejected the argument.
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The case of the day is SEC v. Cluff (S.D.N.Y. 2018). The SEC moved for leave under FRCP 4(f)(3) to serve process on James Shaoul by email. Shaoul was in Israel. Israel is a party to the Hague Service Convention and has not objected to service by postal channels under Article 10(a).
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