Justia U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

The case involves a dispute between SPS Corp I, Fundo de Investimento em Direitos Creditórios Não Padronizados (SPS), and General Motors Co. (GM). GM Brazil, a subsidiary of GM, sued the Brazilian government to recover tax overpayments made by car dealerships. After winning the right to recover, GM Brazil filed a claim with Brazil’s tax agency, Receita Federal do Brasil (RFB), to determine the exact amount. Meanwhile, SPS, as the assignee of thirty-five dealerships, sought to recover the tax overpayments from GM Brazil in Brazilian courts but faced adverse decisions regarding standing and preliminary discovery.The District Court for the District of Delaware reviewed SPS’s application for discovery against GM under 28 U.S.C. § 1782, which allows for discovery in aid of foreign litigation. The District Court denied the request, citing the factors from the Supreme Court’s decision in Intel Corp. v. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. The court found that the discovery sought was within the jurisdictional reach of Brazilian courts, which had already denied similar requests by SPS. The court also noted that allowing the discovery would undermine the decisions of the Brazilian courts and lead to inefficiency.The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit reviewed the District Court’s decision. The Third Circuit affirmed the lower court’s ruling, agreeing that the Intel factors weighed against granting SPS’s discovery request. The court emphasized that the Brazilian courts had jurisdiction over the requested documents and had already denied SPS’s requests. The Third Circuit found no abuse of discretion in the District Court’s decision to respect the Brazilian courts’ rulings and to avoid circumventing foreign proof-gathering restrictions. View "SPS Corp I v. General Motors Co." on Justia Law

This case involves Vertiv, Inc., Vertiv Capital, Inc., and Gnaritis, Inc., Delaware corporations, who sued Wayne Burt, PTE Ltd., a Singaporean corporation, for defaulting on a loan. Vertiv sought damages and a declaratory judgment. Later, Wayne Burt informed the court that it was in liquidation proceedings in Singapore and moved to vacate the judgments against it. The District Court granted the motion and vacated the judgments, reopening the cases. Wayne Burt then moved to dismiss Vertiv’s claims, either on international comity grounds in deference to the ongoing liquidation proceedings in Singapore, or due to a lack of personal jurisdiction. The District Court granted Wayne Burt’s motion to dismiss, concluding that extending comity to the Singaporean court proceedings was appropriate.On appeal, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit vacated the District Court's decision and remanded the case. The court clarified the standard to apply when deciding whether to abstain from adjudicating a case in deference to a pending foreign bankruptcy proceeding. The court held that a U.S. civil action is “parallel” to a foreign bankruptcy proceeding when: (1) the foreign bankruptcy proceeding is ongoing in a duly authorized tribunal while the civil action is pending in the U.S. court; and (2) the outcome of the U.S. civil action may affect the debtor’s estate. The court also held that a party seeking the extension of comity must show that (1) “the foreign bankruptcy law shares the U.S. policy of equal distribution of assets,” and (2) “the foreign law mandates the issuance or at least authorizes the request for the stay.” If a party makes a prima facie case for comity, the court should then determine whether extending comity would be prejudicial to U.S. interests. If a U.S. court decides to extend comity to a foreign bankruptcy proceeding, it should ordinarily stay the civil action or dismiss it without prejudice. View "Vertiv Inc. v. Wayne Burt PTE Ltd" on Justia Law

Venezuela boasts the “largest proven oil reserves in the world,” long under the “significant control” of the state. Venezuela formed PDVSA to exploit those resources. In 2011, Venezuela nationalized several gold mines and seized surrounding factories without compensation. Crystallex won relief in an international arbitral tribunal--$1.2 billion plus interest. The District of Columbia confirmed the award in 2017. Venezuela did not pay, Crystallex registered its judgment with the Delaware District Court under 28 U.S.C. 1963, and sued Venezuela to attach PDVSA’s shares in PDVH, PDVSA’s wholly-owned U.S. subsidiary. Crystallex hoped to ultimately reach funds in CITGO, a Delaware corporation indirectly owned by PDVH.The district court found that PDVSA was Venezuela’s “alter ego”; its property was subject to execution to satisfy Venezuela’s debt. The Third Circuit affirmed, citing Venezuela’s economic control over and profit-sharing with PDVSA. Other Creditors also obtained arbitration awards against Venezuela over debts incurred under broken contracts, then confirmed their arbitration awards in U.S. courts, registered those judgments, and moved for writs of attachment on PDVSA’s shares of PDVH.In 2018-2019, Venezuela experienced political upheaval. Guaidó, the interim president, took control of the shares of PDVH, appointing an ad hoc board of directors to manage the U.S. subsidiaries.Despite those changes, the Delaware District Court granted the Creditors’ motion, comprehensively describing PDVSA’s relationship to Venezuela and concluding PDVSA remains an alter ego of Venezuela. The Third Circuit affirmed that PDVSA remains the alter ego of Venezuela. View "OI European Group BV v. Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela" on Justia Law

Angle served as the exclusive U.S. distribution agent for Jiangsu, a Chinese manufacturer..Jiangsu claims that, as of June 2018, Angle owed it $1.3 million. Under a June 2018 memorandum of understanding, Angle agreed to pay Jiangsu $528,227.59 within six months. The MOU did not contain an arbitration clause. In July, Jiangsu sent Angle a revised agreement, under which the parties agreed to submit any dispute to the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC) with a revised payment schedule. Angle never signed the July MOU. The parties agreed to a payment schedule, without reference to either MOU. Jiangsu repeatedly asked Angle to forward the “signed agreement.” Angle did not make all of the agreed payments. Jiangsu initiated arbitration. Angle objected to CIETAC’s jurisdiction. The Chinese Court found that the July MOU and its arbitration clause were enforceable. The CIETAC arbitration panel independently determined that the July MOU was enforceable under the U.N. Convention on the International Sale of Goods and Chinese law and ordered Angle to pay $624,227.59.Jiangsu sought to enforce its award in the United States under the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards. The Third Circuit vacated the dismissal of Jiangsu’s confirmation petition. While the district court was not bound by the decisions of Chinese tribunals and Angle did not waive its right to contest enforcement, the district court should make an independent determination as to arbitrability. View "Jiangsu Beier Decoration Materials Co., Ltd. v. Angle World LLC" on Justia Law

In the 1990s, Aldossari’s company, Trans Gulf, entered into an agreement in Saudi Arabia with three other businesses to establish and operate an oil refinery in Saint Lucia, a Caribbean island nation. Crude oil was to be sourced from the Saudi government or its national oil company, Saudi Aramco. The project went forward, but, Aldossari alleged, the owners of the three contract counterparties – one of whom became the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia –refused to pay Trans Gulf its share of the proceeds. Two decades later, the soon-to-be Crown Prince promised to pay Aldossari but never did. Aldossari, transferred his rights to his minor son, a U.S. citizen.The federal district court dismissed Aldossari’s subsequent tort and contract claims. The Third Circuit affirmed, holding that dismissal of the claims against a deceased defendant was proper because Aldossari failed to allege any basis for exercising subject-matter jurisdiction over those claims. As for the surviving defendants, the lack of any meaningful ties between those defendants and the United States in Aldossari’s claims defeats his effort to sue them in the U.S. The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act precludes subject-matter jurisdiction over the claims against Saudi Arabia and Saudi Aramco. The case was remanded with directions to dismiss without prejudice since none of the dispositive rulings reach the merits. View "Aldossari v. Ripp" on Justia Law

Venezuela expropriated mining rights owned by Crystallex, a Canadian mining company. After prevailing in an arbitration proceeding, Crystallex obtained a $1.4 billion judgment. In an execution action, Crystallex seeks to auction shares owned by Venezuela’s state-owned energy company, PDVS, to satisfy its judgment against Venezuel, including PDVSA’s shares in PDVH, a Delaware holding company that owns CITGO, a U.S. petroleum refiner (one of PDVSA’s most important U.S. assets). The district court held that it had jurisdiction to enforce the judgment against Venezuela and that PDVSA could not assert sovereign immunity as a defense and ordered PDVH’s registered agent to retain the stock until further order. In an earlier appeal, the Third Circuit affirmed.Political conditions changed in Venezuela. The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which administers U.S. economic sanctions, prohibited the transfer of assets without OFAC approval. On remand, PDVSA, PDVH as the garnishee, and CITGO asked the district court to quash the writ of attachment. The United States filed a statement of interest urging the court not to authorize a contingent sale of the shares.The district court refused to quash the attachment and decided “to set up the sales procedures and then to follow them to the maximum extent that can be accomplished without a specific license from OFAC,” including appointing a special master. The Third Circuit dismissed an appeal for lack of jurisdiction. The district court has not reached a final decision. 28 U.S.C. 1291. View "Crystallex International Corp v. Bolivarian Republic of Venezue" on Justia Law

Vastardis, a citizen of Greece and Chief Engineer onboard the Liberian-registered petroleum tanker, Evridiki, was convicted of offenses related to maritime pollution: failing to maintain an accurate Oil Record Book for several weeks, 33 U.S.C. 1908(a); falsifying high-seas Oil Record Book entries, Sarbanes-Oxley Act, 18 U.S.C. 1519; obstructing justice in the Coast Guard’s investigation of the Evridiki, 18 U.S.C. 1505; and making false statements, 18 U.S.C. 1001. The district court imposed a $7,500 fine, a $400 special assessment, and three years’ probation. Vastardis was barred from entering or applying for visas to enter the U.S.The Third Circuit affirmed the convictions but vacated the portion of the sentence that precludes Vastardis from entering the U.S. while under court supervision. The deception at issue involved falsely documenting bilge water discharges that occurred when the Evridiki was on the high seas and were only discovered when the Evridiki was docked in the Delaware Bay port. Vastardis cannot be convicted in a U.S. court for crimes occurring in international waters, but the convictions here were based on the presence of inaccurate records in U.S. waters, so the district court had subject matter jurisdiction even though the actual entries may have been made beyond U.S. jurisdiction while on the high seas. View "United States v. Vastardis" on Justia Law

Jabateh was a rebel commander during the Liberian civil war. He later fled to the United States seeking asylum. His conduct in Liberia, characterized by brazen violence and wanton atrocities, made honest immigration application impossible. He concealed his crimes and portrayed himself as a persecuted victim. Jabateh’s fraud succeeded for almost 20 years.In 2016, Jabateh was charged with the fraud in his immigration documents, 18 U.S.C. 1546(a) and perjury, 18 U.S.C. 1621. The five-year limitations period for misconduct related to Jabateh's 2001 application for permanent residency had passed, leaving only Jabateh’s oral responses in a 2011 Interview affirming his answer of “no” to questions related to genocide and misrepresentations during his immigration applications. The district court noted “the force of the prosecution’s trial evidence,” establishing that Jabateh personally committed or ordered his troops to commit murder, enslavement, rape, and torture “because of race, religion, nationality, ethnic origin or political opinion.”The Third Circuit affirmed, rejecting challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence and to Jabateh’s 360-month sentence. The court acknowledged that section 1546(a) criminalizes fraud in immigration documents and that Jabateh was not charged with fraud in his immigration documents, only with orally lying about those documents. Jabateh, however, failed to raise this argument at trial. “Given the novelty of the interpretative question, and the lack of persuasive" guidance, the court declined to hold that this reading of section 1546(a) meets the stringent standards for “plain error” reversal. View "United States v. Jabateh" on Justia Law

Schneider, a longtime Hay employee, was elevated to CEO in 2001. Hay terminated Schneider in 2003 for “good cause.” Schneider sued in the Labor Court of Germany and in the Netherlands. The Dutch courts found that under Dutch law there had been no valid resolution approving Schneider’s termination. In 2012, the German trial court dismissed Schneider’s claims. The German Higher Regional Court reversed in part in 2014, giving preclusive effect to the Dutch court’s findings concerning Schneider’s contract. The Hay entities were required to pay Schneider over $13 million.In 2004, Hay filed suit in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, alleging nine causes of action with varying degrees of overlap with the German litigation. After the German proceedings became final, the district court lifted a stay and granted Schneider summary judgment, holding that Hay’s claims were precluded by the German judgment, assuming that the relevant inquiry was whether Hay could have brought its claims as counterclaims in the German litigation.The Third Circuit reversed in part. Under Pennsylvania preclusion law, the correct question is whether Hay was required to bring its claims as counterclaims in the German litigation. Under German law, Hay was not required to plead these claims as counterclaims in the German litigation. Since Hay’s contract assignment claim seeks to functionally undo the German litigation, however, the court affirmed summary judgment on that claim. View "Hay Group Management Inc v. Schneider" on Justia Law

Crystallex, a Canadian gold mining company, invested hundreds of millions of dollars to develop gold deposits in Venezuela, which then expropriated those deposits and transferred them to its state-owned oil company, PDVSA. To seek redress, Crystallex invoked a bilateral investment treaty between Canada and Venezuela to file for arbitration before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes. The arbitration occurred in Washington, D.C., and the panel awarded Crystallex $1.2 billion, plus interest. The district court confirmed that award and issued a $1.4 billion federal judgment. Unable to identify Venezuelan-held commercial assets in the U.S. that it could lawfully seize, Crystallex sought to attach PDVSA’s shares in PDVH, its wholly-owned U.S. subsidiary. PDVH is the holding company for CITGO, a Delaware Corporation. The attachment suit is governed by the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, 28 U.S.C. 1602–1611. Under federal common law, a judgment creditor of a foreign sovereign may look to the sovereign’s instrumentality for satisfaction when it is “so extensively controlled by its owner that a relationship of principal and agent is created.” The district court concluded and the Third Circuit affirmed that Venezuela’s control over PDVSA was sufficient to allow Crystallex to attach PDVSA’s shares of PDVH. The court rejected jurisdictional and equitable objections and a claim that PDVSA’s “tangential role” in the dispute precludes execution. View "Crystallex International Corp v. Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela" on Justia Law