Texas Tech School of Law Federalist Society

Courthouse Steps: Jesner v. Arab Bank
A Teleforum Sponsored by the Litigation Practice Groups
Friday, October 20, 2017 | 12:00 noon ET


Prof. William R. Casto
Paul Whitfield Horn Professor
Texas Tech University School of Law


Prof. Samuel Estreicher
Dwight D. Opperman Professor of Law Director
Center for Labor and Employment Law Co-Director, Institute of Judicial Administration
New York University School of Law

Oral Arguments for Jesner v. Arab Bank were heard on Wednesday, October 11th 2017. The issue at the center of the case is whether the Alien Tort Statute exempts corporations from liability.

The petitioners are surviving victims or families affected by a series of terrorist attacks that occurred over a 10-year period along the Gaza Strip and West Bank of Israel. Arab Bank knowingly accepted donations, paid su***de bombers' families, and maintained accounts for the terrorists who committed these acts. Arab Bank holds a small division in the United States, which it uses for money transfers. Petitioners claim that since Arab Bank has connection to the United States they can sue the corporation for damages in U.S. federal court under the 1789 Alien Tort Act.

Prof. Samuel Estreicher and Prof. William Casto will join us to discuss the oral argument and the significance of the case.

Today at Noon in Room 107 - Clark Neily will speak on "Civil Policing for Profit - Time to End Civil Forfeiture." Neily represented the plaintiffs in District of Columbia v. Heller, in which the Supreme Court of the U.S. recognized that the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to own a gun for self defense.

Rosa's will be served.

Today at Noon in Room 105 - former Texas Solicitor General Jonathan Mitchell and former Assistant Solicitor General James Sullivan will discuss Textualism and the Fourteenth Amendment. Buns Over Texas will be served.

Tomorrow - Vikrant Reddy on The Conservative Case for Criminal Justice Reform. See you there.

Justice Sotomayor Says 'There Is a Place, I Think, for Jury Nullification' The former 2nd Circuit judge suggests that court was wrong to categorically reject a jury's right to acquit a guilty defendant.

Judge Baldock has agreed to speak to a select group of 1L Legal Practice students after the presentation. Pass along the information to 1L students.