Author: Ted Folkman

  • Case of the Day: Johannes Baumgartner Wirtschafts-und-Vermögensberatung GmbH v. Salzman

    The case of the day rejoices in the name Johannes Baumgartner Wirtschafts-und-Vermögensberatung GmbH v. Salzman (E.D.N.Y. 2011). The plaintiffs sued Ambiente GmbH, a German firm, and Peter Schmidt, Muhsin Karakurt, and Mehmed Kocabas, all of whom resided in Germany. The claim was for violations of RICO, securities fraud, conversion–you name it. The case of the……

  • Case of the Day: United Company Rusal v. Trafigura AG

    The case of the day United Company Rusal, plc v. Trafigura AG (D. Conn. 2011), raises a fascinating question: do the federal courts have subject-matter jurisdiction of applications for judicial assistance under 28 U.S.C. § 1782? One might wonder how this question could even arise. The statute provides: The district court of the district in which……

  • ADR Prof Blog

    Prof. Michael Moffitt, associate dean at the University of Oregon School of Law, was kind enough to give a shout out to Letters Blogatory on his blog, ADR Prof Blog, and I’d like to return the favor. His blog (other contributors include Andrea Schneider, Sarah Cole, Art Hinshaw, Jill Gross, and Cynthia Alkon) covers all……

  • Case of the Day: Belmont Partners v. Mina Mar

    The case of the day is Belmont Partners, LLC v. Mina Mar Group, Inc. (W.D. Va. 2010). It’s a perfect example of what should not happen in arbitration–the parties agreed to arbitrate, then settled, then one reneged on the settlement, then they sued each other in two countries. The parties were both in the business……

  • Digest for March 21, 2011

    Intelligender LLC v. Soriano (E.D. Tex. 2011). Where plaintiff served process on a Chilean defendant using an alternate means of service without first requesting leave of court under Rule 4(f)(3) and did not show that the alternate means were permissible under the Inter-American Convention, the court denied a motion to approve the alternate means of……