United States Ninth Circuit

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

• Decided 09/08/2009
• Published 09/08/2009

Judges

• Before: THOMAS G. NELSON, SANDRA S. IKUTA, and N. RANDY SMITH, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
• William M. Barron of Alston & Bird, LLP, New York City, NY; Anthony A. De Corso of Beck, De Corso, Daly, Kreindler & Harris, for defendant-appellant the Kingdom of Spain., Thaddeus J. Stauber and Walter T. Johnson of Nixon Peabody, LLP, Los Angeles, CA, for defendant-appellant Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection Foundation., Stuart R. Dunwoody of Davis Wright Tremaine, LLP, Los Angeles, CA, for plaintiff-appellee Claude Cassirer.