Foley Hoag Secures Victory in Court of Appeals for Ninth Circuit for Republic of France
January 09, 2025
Foley Hoag LLP announced a significant legal victory on behalf of clients the Republic of France, the French ministère des Armées, and the Direction Générale de l’Armement. On December 19, 2024, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of lawsuit filed by Swiss merchant bank Aldini AG.
Aldini had alleged a wide-ranging conspiracy supposedly involving the Republic of France and private companies to manipulate the bankruptcy process of a French defense contractor in the bankruptcy court of Grenoble, France.
The District Court dismissed Aldini’s claims against our sovereign defendant clients on sovereign immunity grounds, holding that the alleged actions of the French sovereign defendants were inherently sovereign in nature and did not satisfy the commercial activity or expropriation exceptions under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA). The Ninth Circuit panel recently affirmed that decision within a month of hearing oral argument.
This ruling reinforces important limitations on the commercial activity exception under the FSIA and provides clarity for future litigation involving allegations of conspiracy and agency.
Foley Hoag attorneys and team members who participated in the defense of the Republic of France, the French ministère des Armées, and the Direction Générale de l’Armement included Daniel Schimmel, Tony Mirenda, Nicholas Renzler, Natalie Panariello, Daniel Zaleznik and Rachel Kelly. Foley Hoag collaborated with Asim Bhansali and Kate Lazarus of Kwun Bhansali Lazarus in San Francisco.
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