The implications of a recent federal appellate ruling related to international civil litigation is the subject of a commentary published last week by the dean and a student researcher here at the University of Georgia School of Law.

Coauthoring the Daily Report article, entitled “State Secrets Privilege: A Challenge in International Litigation,” were international business law expert Peter B. “Bo” Rutledge, Dean and Herman E. Talmadge Chair of Law at Georgia  Law, along with Alexandra Lampe, a member of Georgia Law’s Master of Laws (LL.M.) Class of 2023.

The article discusses Sakab Saudi Holding Co. v. Aljabri, 58 F.4th 585 (1st Cir. 2023), in which the Boston-based U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a dismissal of a suit arising out of an asset seizure, lest further litigation risk disclosure of state secrets. After describing the ruling in the context of other case law, Rutledge and Lampe concluded:

“Parties in international commercial disputes with any kind of national security implication approaching U.S. courts, thus, should be aware to not expect too much from such proceedings. … [T]he broad application and interpretation of the state secrets privilege in the U.S. can complicate the resolution of international disputes.”