International Litigation

Since its establishment in New York in the 1830s, Curtis has represented non-US clients in US state and federal courts and before US regulators and enforcement authorities. Today Curtis’ international disputes practice offers strong local teams in the countries and regions across which we operate, including the UK, France, Germany, Italy, the Middle East, with the DIFC, and Latin America. We provide cross-border representation among the US and other jurisdictions and manage disputes requiring a coordinated strategy across multiple forums.

Curtis has a top tier international disputes team, and litigation is a key component of our disputes offering to international clients. As defendant, we have a track record of success in devising defense strategies for clients over a number of jurisdictions simultaneously. As plaintiff, we give strategic advice on the most advantageous choice of forum for our clients’ particular situation. With litigation capabilities across key strategic legal markets, the litigation team works seamlessly across our offices in multijurisdictional cases, which can involve three or more countries’ courts.

Curtis litigation attorneys have contributed to the evolution of the fundamental principles guiding transnational litigation in US courts and other tribunals. We have been responsible for precedent-setting decisions in the law of extra-territorial jurisdiction and foreign sovereign immunity. We regularly litigate issues involving comity, forum non conveniens, and choice of law, and have a long record of successfully advocating issues under foreign law in US courts. We advise on issues involving the implications for non-US companies of working in the US through subsidiaries, distributors, and other partners, and work with non-US companies to best structure their US operations from the standpoint of managing their exposure to the US legal system.

We use the tools of international litigation in US courts in the service of our non-US clients. We enforce non-US judgments in US courts and elsewhere, and undertake international asset recovery. We engage in cross-border discovery, using 28 U.S.C. § 1782, the Hague Convention and other procedures to assist in litigation in jurisdictions around the world. We bring and oppose motions to compel arbitration, and have enforced and defended arbitral awards in the US and many jurisdictions.

Our litigation team has deep experience in the issues that give rise to transnational disputes including antitrust, bankruptcy and financial distress, commercial contracts, distribution and supply agreements, corporate finance, product liability, intellectual property and licensing, business combinations, investment and financial products and corporate governance.

Our international litigation group draws on the knowledge and experience of our leading International Arbitration, Commercial Arbitration and International Trade practices.

Litigators across our offices provide domestic legal insight and local cultural awareness across the globe. We collaborate across our 19 offices and contact networks in Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia to coordinate multi-jurisdictional legal strategies and provide local client support. We understand the perspective of non-US litigants: we look at US litigation from the perspective of Singapore and Almaty, Riyadh and Bogota, Milan and Buenos Aires – as well as New, York, Houston, Washington, D.C and London.