Cassirer v. Kingdom of Spain, No. 06-56325

In an action under international law seeking to recover a painting on display at a Spanish museum that was allegedly stolen by Nazis during World War II, defendants' appeal from a denial of their motions to dismiss is dismissed in part, where there was no final judgment on the issues of personal jurisdiction, standing, and the existence of a justiciable case or controversy.  However, the district court's order is vacated in part where the expropriation exception of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act applied when the foreign state (against whom a claim is made) was not the entity that expropriated the property in violation of international law.

Appellate Information

Argued September 24, 2007

Submitted September 8, 2009

Judges

Opinion by Judge Smith

Dissent by Judge Ikuta

Counsel

For Appellants:

William M. Barron, Alston & Bird, LLP, New York, NY

Thaddeus J. Stauber, Nixon Peabody, LLP, Los Angeles, CA

For Appellee:

Stuart R. Dunwoody, Davis Wright Tremaine, LLP, Los Angeles, CA