Courses

    This course will open with some of the basic principles of conflict of laws in an international context, particularly touching on the extraterritorial reach and application of the laws of one country to another, including the impact of embargos, exchange controls, and similar efforts. The course will then focus on a historical and contemporary examination of the various bases on which courts have asserted extraterritorial jurisdiction in these contexts, including the effects test and other bases. This will include a survey of the types of cases that have been brought in the U.S. involving foreign commercial defendants and the types of relief that courts have provided. The doctrine of forum non conveniens will be examined, and the issue of foreign nationals suing in U.S. courts in aviation accident and other contexts will be explored together with issues of when and under what circumstances it is appropriate to apply foreign rather than U.S. law in U.S. courts. Finally, the course will focus on the Act of State doctrine and will conclude with recent examples of suits brought in U.S. courts seeking compensation from foreign states for acts of terrorism, abuse of human rights and torture.