Shahrokh Mireskandari v. Barrington Mayne, et al.

This case arises from tortious and criminal conduct that two self-funded and self-governing foreign organizations—the Law Society of England and Wales (“LSE”) and the U.K. Solicitors Regulation Authority (“SRA”)— and individuals purporting to act on their behalf perpetrated against a U.S. citizen on U.S. soil. The Ninth Circuit held that the organizations were immune from jurisdiction and suit under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (“FSIA”), 28 U.S.C. §§ 1603 et seq., as organs of the U.K., even though the U.K. itself does not consider them governmental entities. It further held the individual defendants were entitled to common law immunity because they purported to be acting on behalf of those organizations, even though they never registered as foreign agents; no suggestion of immunity was sought from or issued by the U.S. State Department; and there is no indication the U.K. ratified or approved the relevant conduct. The questions presented are:

1. Whether the LSE and SRA are entitled to sovereign immunity as “organs” of a foreign government under the FSIA and the relevant test for such determinations.

2. Whether the individual defendants were entitled to common law immunity for their tortious and illegal conduct because they purported to be acting for the benefit of the LSE or SRA with minimal discovery on the issue being permitted. (i)