Articles on ATS
Class-Action Firms Extend Reach to Global Rights Cases
By Adam Liptak, The New York Times, June 3, 2007The plaintiffs are thousands of boys from South Asia and Africa who say they were abducted, enslaved and forced to ride racing camels to entertain the rich in the Middle East. The defendants live in the United Arab Emirates...cont.
The Next Litigation Bonanza
National Legal Center monograph...cont.Lawsuit Spin vs. Fact
The lawsuit attacks the leaders of the United Arab Emirates who have been at the forefront in eliminating the very abuses that are alleged. An honest appraisal of the facts demonstrates that the UAE has enacted and enforced laws that seek to eliminate the use of children as camel jockeys...cont.Commentary: Alien Ambulance-Chasers
By Daniel J. Popeo and Glenn G. Lammi, The Washington Times, Mar 26, 2007Only in America could enterprising lawyers turn a 218-year old, 32-word statute meant to redress piracy into a weapon of mass tort litigation. This law is the Alien Tort Statute (ATS), a tiny part of the larger 1789 Judiciary Act. Contingent-fee attorneys have commandeered this law and are using it to file massive lawsuits in U.S. courts on behalf of foreign plaintiffs against foreign defendants for alleged harm that occurred far outside our borders...cont.
Commentary: Legal Imperialism
By Joseph G. Finnerty III and John Merrigan, The Wall Street Journal, Feb 28, 2007Faced with shrinking domestic opportunities, America's most aggressive contingency-fee law firms still have in place a fee structure in search of an investment strategy. They have gone global using the Alien Tort Statute (ATS), an obscure piece of legislation adopted in 1789, lodging massive foreign class actions that threaten to clog U.S. courts and disrupt foreign relations...cont.
