On Thursday, April 21, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in Cassirer v. Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection Foundation, in favor of BSF’s clients. The Supreme Court’s decision addressed an important choice of law issue in a Foreign Sovereignty Immunities Act case in which BSF represents the Cassirer family in their efforts to secure the return of a Pissarro painting taken from the family when fleeing Nazi Germany. The Supreme Court adopted our view that California choice of law rules apply, vacated the decision below, and remanded the case to the lower courts for further proceedings. BSF Chairman David Boies argued the case remotely in January, making it the second consecutive unanimous decision before the Supreme Court that he has won (the first being Halliburton v. Erica P. John Fund).
Several media outlets reported on the ruling, including Bloomberg Law, Daily Business Review, Courthouse News Service, Associated Press, CNBC, ArtNet News, Law360, Law & Crime, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the Washington Examiner, which quoted David Boies and partners Steve Zack and Scott Gant.