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Ashot Yegiazaryan, aka Ashot Egiazaryan v. Vitaly Ivanovich Smagin, et al.

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, No. 21-55537 · judgment June 10, 2022

Decided · June 22, 2023
Pre-decision estimate: 4% cert probability

Before the decision, roughly the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for a Ninth Circuit decision below, a circuit split argued in the petition, and counsel who has filed here before.

Question presented

Consolidated with 22-383. In RJR Nabisco, this Court, applying the presumption against extraterritoriality, held that a civil RICO plaintiff states a cognizable claim under RICO's private right of action only if it alleges a "domestic"-not foreign-injury. 579 U.S. 325, 354 (2016). The Court left unresolved, however, what legal test determines whether an injury is foreign or domestic. Id. ("[D]isputes may arise as to whether a particular alleged in- jury is 'foreign' or 'domestic.' But we need not concern ourselves with that question in this case."). Since RJR Nabisco, the Courts of Appeals have divided three ways as to the proper legal test for assessing whether a foreign plaintiff suffers a "domestic" injury to intangible property-such as court judgments, arbitration awards, contract rights, patents, and business reputation or goodwill. The question presented is: Does a foreign plaintiff state a cognizable civil RICO claim when it suffers an injury to intangible property, and if so, under what circumstances.

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Vincent Gregory Levy
Holwell Shuster & Goldberg, LLP

For respondent
Alexander David Burch
Baker & McKenzie, LLP

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 2 conferences

Amicus briefs
3 merits
(2 supporting pet./neither, 1 respondent)

Related
Vide, 22-383

Argument & decision

Argued April 25, 2023 — Vincent Levy · Nicholas O. Kennedy. Audio and transcript

Decided June 22, 2023. Opinion by Sotomayor.

Proceedings

  1. Jul 24 2023
    Judgment issued.
    Main Document
  2. Jun 22 2023
    Judgment is AFFIRMED and case REMANDED. Sotomayor, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Roberts, C. J., and Kagan, Kavanaugh, Barrett, and Jackson, JJ., joined. Alito, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which Thomas, J., joined, and in which Gorsuch, J., joined as to Part I. VIDED.
  3. Apr 25 2023
    Argued. For petitioners: Vincent Levy, New York, N. Y. For Vitaly Ivanovich Smagin: Nicholas O. Kennedy, Dallas, Tex. VIDED.
  4. Apr 14 2023
    Reply of petitioners filed. VIDED. (Distributed)
    Main DocumentCertificate of Word CountProof of Service
  5. Apr 05 2023
    Brief amicus curiae of Professor George A. Bermann filed. VIDED. (Distributed)
    Main DocumentCertificate of Word CountProof of Service
  6. Mar 29 2023
    Brief of respondent Vitaly Smagin filed. VIDED. (Distributed)
    Main DocumentCertificate of Word CountProof of Service
  7. Mar 24 2023
    CIRCULATED
  8. Mar 06 2023
    Brief amicus curiae of Washington Legal Foundation filed. VIDED.
    Main DocumentCertificate of Word CountProof of Service
  9. Mar 06 2023
    Brief amici curiae of Private International Law Scholars filed.
    Main DocumentCertificate of Word CountProof of Service
  10. Feb 27 2023
    Brief of petitioners filed. VIDED.
    Main DocumentCertificate of Word CountProof of Service
  11. Feb 27 2023
    Joint appendix filed. VIDED.
    Main DocumentProof of Service
  12. Feb 08 2023
    Record requested from the U.S.C.A.-9th Circuit. VIDED.
  13. Feb 08 2023
    All records from the USCA-9th Circuit and USDC-Central Disrict of California are available on PACER. VIDED.
  14. Jan 31 2023
    SET FOR ARGUMENT on Tuesday, April 25, 2023. VIDED.
  15. Jan 13 2023
    Petition GRANTED. The petition for a writ of certiorari in No. 22-383 is GRANTED. The cases are consolidated, and a total of one hour is allotted for oral argument. VIDED.
  16. Jan 13 2023
    Because the Court has consolidated these cases for briefing and oral argument, future filings and activity in the cases will now be reflected on the docket of No. 22-381. Subsequent filings in these cases must therefore be submitted through the electronic filing system in No. 22-381. Each document submitted in connection with one or more of these cases must include on its cover the case number and caption for each case in which the filing is intended to be submitted. Where a filing is submitted in fewer than all of the cases, the docket entry will reflect the case number(s) in which the filing is submitted; a document filed in all of the consolidated cases will be noted as “VIDED.”
  17. Jan 09 2023
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/13/2023.
  18. Dec 07 2022
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/6/2023.
  19. Dec 06 2022
    Reply of petitioner CMB Monaco filed. VIDED. (Distributed)
    Main DocumentProof of ServiceCertificate of Word Count
  20. Dec 02 2022
    Reply of petitioner Ashot Yegiazaryan filed.
    Main DocumentProof of ServiceCertificate of Word Count
  21. Nov 23 2022
    Brief of respondent Vitaly Smagin in opposition filed. VIDED.
    Main DocumentProof of ServiceCertificate of Word Count
  22. Oct 20 2022
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due November 23, 2022)
    PetitionCertificate of Word CountProof of Service