Law Commons^™

M/S Bremen V Zapata Off -Shore Company: Us Common Law Affirmation Of Party Autonomy, Ronald A. Brand

Book Chapters

In the 1972 decision in M/S Bremen v Zapata Off -Shore Company, the U.S. Supreme Court brought together the development of doctrines dealing with party autonomy in choice of court and forum non conveniens. Especially when considered alongside developments favoring arbitration clauses in U.S. courts, the case provides a rich study of conflicts of laws jurisprudence in the twentieth century. This chapter begins with a discussion of fundamental elements of the development of party autonomy in U.S. law and the historical context of the law prior to The Bremen. A brief mention of how one prominent political family …

A Hague Parallel Proceedings Convention: Architecture And Features, Paul Herrup, Ronald A. Brand

Articles

In Paul Herrup and Ronald A. Brand, A Hague Convention on Parallel Proceedings, 63 Harvard International Law Journal Online 1(2022), available at https://harvardilj.org/2022/02/a-hague-convention-on-parallel-proceedings/ and https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3894502, we argued that the Hague Conference on Private International Law should not undertake a project to require or prohibit exercise of original jurisdiction in national courts. Rather, the goal of current efforts should be to improve the concentration of parallel litigation in a “better forum,” in order to achieve efficient and complete resolution of disputes in transnational litigation. The Hague Conference is now taking this path. As the Experts Group and Working Group …

A Hague Convention On Parallel Proceedings, Paul Herrup, Ronald A. Brand

Articles

The Hague Conference on Private International Law has engaged in a series of projects that, if successful, could provide the framework for critical aspects of trans-national litigation in the Twenty-first Century. Thus far, the work has resulted in the 2005 Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements and the 2019 Hague Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters. Work now has begun to examine the need, desirability and feasibility of additional instruments in the area, with discussions of an instrument that would either require or prohibit the exercise of jurisdiction by national courts, and …

Federal Rule 44.1: Foreign Law In U.S. Courts Today, Vivian Grosswald Curran

Articles

This article presents an in-depth analysis of the latent methodological issues that are as much a cause of U.S. federal court avoidance of foreign law as are judicial difficulties in obtaining foreign legal materials and difficulties in understanding foreign legal orders and languages. It explores Rule 44.1’s inadvertent introduction of a civil-law method into a common-law framework, and the results that have ensued, including an incomplete transition of foreign law from being an issue of fact to becoming an issue of law. It addresses the ways in which courts obtain information about foreign law today, suggesting among others the methodological …

Standards Of Review In Texas, W. Wendell Hall, Ryan G. Anderson

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract forthcoming

China's Rule Of Law From A Private International Law Perspective, King Fung Tsang

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

The Interpretation And Effect Of Permissive Forum Selection Clauses Under U.S. Law, Hannah L. Buxbaum

Articles by Maurer Faculty

A forum selection clause is a form of contractual waiver. By this device, a contract party waives its rights to raise jurisdictional or venue objections if a lawsuit is initiated against it in the chosen court. The use of such a clause in a particular case may therefore raise a set of questions under contract law. Is the waiver valid? Was it procured by fraud, duress, or other unconscionable means? What is its scope? And so on. Unlike most contractual waivers, though, a forum selection clause affects not only the private rights and obligations of the parties, but something of …

Retiring Forum Non Conveniens, Maggie Gardner

Maggie Gardner

When it comes to transnational litigation in the federal courts, it is time to retire the doctrine of forum non conveniens. The doctrine, which allows judges to decline jurisdiction in cases they believe would be better heard in foreign courts, is meant to promote international comity and protect defendant fairness. But it is not well-designed for the former purpose, and given recent developments at the Supreme Court, it is dangerously redundant when it comes to the latter. This Article seeks to demythologize forum non conveniens, to question its continuing relevance, and to encourage the courts and Congress to narrow its …

Retiring Forum Non Conveniens, Maggie Gardner

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

When it comes to transnational litigation in the federal courts, it is time to retire the doctrine of forum non conveniens. The doctrine, which allows judges to decline jurisdiction in cases they believe would be better heard in foreign courts, is meant to promote international comity and protect defendant fairness. But it is not well-designed for the former purpose, and given recent developments at the Supreme Court, it is dangerously redundant when it comes to the latter. This Article seeks to demythologize forum non conveniens, to question its continuing relevance, and to encourage the courts and Congress to narrow its …

Filartiga V. Pena-Irala: International Justice In A Modern American Court?, Josef Rohlik

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Annual Survey Of Developments In International Trade Law: 1983, Georgia Journal Of International And Comparative Law

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

International Mass Tort Litigation: Forum Non Conveniens And The Adequate Alternative Forum In Light Of The Bhopal Disaster, Stephen L. Cummings

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Challenges To Forum Non Conveniens, Ronald A. Brand

Articles

This paper was originally prepared for a Panel on Regulating Forum Shopping: Courts’ Use of Forum Non Conveniens in Transnational Litigation at the 18th Annual Herbert Rubin and Justice Rose Luttan Rubin International Law Symposium: Tug of War: The Tension Between Regulation and International Cooperation, held at New York University School of Law, October 25, 2012. The doctrines of forum non conveniens and lis alibi pendens have marked a significant difference in approach to parallel litigation in the common law and civil law worlds, respectively. The forum non conveniens doctrine has recently taken a beating. This has come (1) in …

Asbestos Litigation In California: Can It Change For The Better?, Steven D. Wasserman, Michael L. Fox, Michael C. Scanlon, Sunny C. Shapiro, Anne Cherry Barnett

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Call For Stricter Appellate Review Of Decisions On Forum Non Conveniens, Nicholas A. Fromherz

Nicholas A Fromherz

Forum non conveniens has been criticized as anachronistic and unfair. Critics say that it amounts to little more than economic protectionism, serving as a pretext for the dismissal of suits brought against domestic corporate defendants. Even if one does not view the doctrine as inherently flawed, it is undeniable that its application has been extremely uneven owing to the broad discretion exercised by district courts ruling on the issue. Troubling in any circumstances, the misapplication of forum non conveniens is all the more so because of the high stakes pertaining to the matter. When a case is dismissed on forum …

Access-To-Justice Analysis On A Due Process Platform, Ronald A. Brand

Articles

In their article, Forum Non Conveniens and The Enforcement of Foreign Judgments, Christopher Whytock and Cassandra Burke Robertson provide a wonderful ride through the landscape of the law of both forum non convenience and judgments recognition and enforcement. They explain doctrinal development and current case law clearly and efficiently, in a manner that educates, but does not overburden, the reader. Based upon that explanation, they then provide an analysis of both areas of the law and offer suggestions for change. Those suggestions, they tell us, are necessary to close the “transnational access-to-justice gap” that results from apparent differences between rules …

The Proper Forum For A Suit: Transnational Forum Non Conveniens And Counter-Suit Injunctions In The Federal Courts, William L. Reynolds

William L. Reynolds

No abstract provided.

When Is An Alternative Forum Available? Rethinking The Forum Non Conveniens Analysis, Joel H. Samuels

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Duplicative Foreign Litigation, Austen L. Parrish

Articles by Maurer Faculty

What should a court do when a lawsuit involving the same parties and the same issues is already pending in the court of another country? With the growth of transnational litigation, the issue of reactive, duplicative proceedings - and the waste inherent in such duplication - becomes a more common problem. The future does not promise change. In a modern, globalized world, litigants are increasingly tempted to forum shop among countries to find courts and law more favorably inclined to them than their opponents.

The federal courts, however, do not yet have a coherent response to the problem. They apply …

Forum Non Conveniens And The Need For Availability Of An Alternative Forum Under Cplr 327: Is The Islamic Republic Case An Anomaly?, Anthony J. Centone

Pace Law Review

No abstract provided.

Comity And Foreign Parallel Proceedings: A Reply To Black And Swan. Lloyd’S Underwriters V. Cominco Ltd., Austen L. Parrish

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Lloyd's Underwriters v. Cominco Ltd., is a potentially seminal case, currently pending before the Supreme Court of Canada. The case involves the issue of whether Canadian courts should stay litigation in the face of duplicative foreign proceedings. This reply responds to Vaughan Black's and John Swan's comment on the Lloyd's case, which was published in volume 46 of the Canadian Business Law Journal.

The reply argues that although Black and Swan have important insights into judgment enforcement when competing, inconsistent decisions exist, their analysis too readily skips over the first-to-file rule and underestimates the costs of reactive litigation. Canadian courts …

The European Magnet And The U.S. Centrifuge: Ten Selected Private International Law Developments Of 2008, Ronald A. Brand

Articles

This article considers ten developments in private international law that occurred in 2008. In doing so, it focuses on the way in which these developments demonstrate a parallel convergence of power for private international in the institutions of the European Community and dispersal of power for private international law in the United States. This process carries with it important implications for the future roles of both the European Union and the United States in the multilateral development of rules of private international law, with the EU moving toward an enhanced leadership role and the United States restricting its own ability …

The Quest For Creative Jurisdiction: The Evolution Of Personal Jurisdiction Doctrine Of Israeli Courts Toward The Palestinian Territories, Michael M. Karayanni

Michigan Journal of International Law

The thesis offered in this Article, marking three different stages in the development of the personal jurisdiction doctrine of Israeli courts toward the PT of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, has two additional attributes. One concerns the doctrinal innovation in the general personal jurisdiction doctrine of Israeli courts that also took place as these different stages unfolded. The evolving status of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip over the years, together with the need of courts to reach conclusive results in the cases brought before them, made it necessary for courts to be creative in adjusting the …

Multinational Class Actions Under Federal Securities Law: Managing Jurisdictional Conflict, Hannah Buxbaum

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This article examines a form of securities class action that is growing increasingly popular in U.S. courts: the foreign cubed action, brought against a foreign issuer on behalf of a class that includes foreign investors who purchased securities on a foreign exchange. These cases are becoming an important part of the regulatory landscape (as evidenced by recent high-profile lawsuits involving issuers such as Vivendi, Bayer and Royal Ahold), and they create the potential for particularly severe conflict with other countries on the question of how best to regulate global economic activity. Yet they point out quite clearly that the traditional …

Jurisdiction To Adjudicate: A Revised Analysis, A. Benjamin Spencer

Faculty Publications

Personal jurisdiction doctrine as articulated by the Supreme Court is in disarray. As a constitutional doctrine whose contours remain imprecise, the law of personal jurisdiction has generated confusion, unpredictability, and extensive satellite litigation over what should be an uncomplicated preliminary issue. Many commentators have long lamented these defects, making suggestions for how the doctrine could be improved. Although many of these proposals have had much to offer, they generally have failed to articulate (or adequately justify or explain) a simple and sound approach to jurisdiction that the Supreme Court can embrace. This Article revises the law of personal jurisdiction by …

Comparative Forum Non Conveniens And The Hague Judgments Convention, Ronald A. Brand

Articles

This article begins with a discussion of the application of the forum non conveniens doctrine in four common law legal systems. It then briefly notes related concepts applied in the courts of two civil law systems. This discussion is followed in Part IV by a brief history of the negotiations at the Hague Conference on Private International Law for a Convention on Jurisdiction and Foreign Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters and a review of Articles 21 and 22 of the Interim Text of that Convention created at the June 2001 portion of the Diplomatic Conference. This review allows conclusions …

The Proper Forum For A Suit: Transnational Forum Non Conveniens And Counter-Suit Injunctions In The Federal Courts, William L. Reynolds

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Choice Of Forum And Choice Of Law In The Federal Courts: A Reconsideration Of Erie Principles, Earl M. Maltz

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

International Concurrent Jurisdiction: Dealing With The Possibility Of Parallel Proceedings In The Courts Of More Than One Country, Bernd U. Graf

LLM Theses and Essays

This thesis will examine how legal systems deal with the phenomenon of multiple assumptions of jurisdiction over the same dispute. We will first look at public international law rules on jurisdiction, regulating (or not regulating) conflicting states' interests, which will give only modest guidance. In view of those rules, the subsequent chapters will deal with various national laws relating to the possibility of parallel proceedings in the courts of more than one country, and thus the possibility of the emergence of conflicting orders or judgments.

The Emerging Doctrine Of "Forum Non Conveniens": A Comparison Of The Scottish, English And United States Applications, Raymond T. Abbott

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Note will first examine the development of "forum non conveniens" in Scotland, the country of the doctrine's origin. It will compare the doctrine to the traditional English policy of staying proceedings in situations involving vexation or oppression, and examine how the liberalization of the English policy has led ultimately to the recognition of forum non conveniens as an appropriate description for the factors an English court will consider prior to a dismissal or stay of an action. Similarly, the doctrine of forum non conveniens in the United States will be compared with the doctrines in the other two jurisdictions, …