Supreme Court Report

Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →

Russian Federation v. Hulley Enterprises Ltd., et al.

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, No. 23-7174 · judgment August 5, 2025


Certiorari denied · January 12, 2026
Pre-decision estimate: 2% cert probability

Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.

Question presented

“A foreign state shall not be immune from the jurisdiction” of a United States court where “the action is brought ... to confirm an award made pursuant to ... an agreement to arbitrate,” and such agreement was “made by the foreign state with or for the benefit of a private party to submit to arbitration all or any differences which have arisen or which may arise between the parties with respect to a defined legal relationship.” 28 U.S.C. §1605(a)(6). The question presented is: Whether §1605(a)(6) allows a United States court to exercise jurisdiction without first determining whether the foreign-state defendant agreed to arbitrate “differences ... between” itself and the plaintiff.

Counsel of record

For petitioner
David Peter Riesenberg
Pinna Goldberg U.S. PLLC

For respondent
Steven Moffat Shepard
Susman Godfrey L.L.P.

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Proceedings

  1. Jan 12 2026
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Jan 05 2026
    Letter of December 31, 2025 from counsel for petitioner received. (Distributed)
  3. Dec 23 2025
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/9/2026.
  4. Dec 23 2025
    Motion to Consolidate of Russian Federation not accepted for filing. (December 30, 2025)
  5. Dec 19 2025
    Reply of petitioner Russian Federation filed. (Distributed)
  6. Dec 05 2025
    Brief of respondents Hulley Enterprises Ltd., et al. in opposition filed.
  7. Nov 03 2025
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due December 5, 2025)