Tweet
SUPREME COURT WILL NOT REVIEW ARMENIAN GENOCIDE-ERA INSURANCE CLAIMS CASE
http://www.armenianweekly.com/2013/06/10/supreme-court-will-not-review-armenian-genocide-era-insurance-claims-case/
June 10, 2013
WASHINGTON-The U.S. Supreme Court, today, announced that it will not
review a Ninth Circuit Court decision which struck down a California
law extending the statute of limitations on Armenian Genocide-era
insurance claims cases, reported the Armenian National Committee of
America (ANCA).
The Supreme Court's decision not to review the case lets stand a
lower court decision which effectively prevents U.S. citizens from
pursuing redress for unpaid insurance claims by using the rarely
invoked foreign affairs pre-emption doctrine. Plaintiffs challenged
that assertion in a May 24th brief, filed by lead appellate attorney
Igor Timofeyev, calling it "a revolutionary proposition [by the U.S.
Government] that states lack all authority to enact legislation
concerning their citizens' private claims if they originate in events
that occurred abroad."
Plaintiffs' attorney and Armenian Americans groups expressed dismay
about the Supreme Court decision and a commitment to continue efforts
to secure justice for genocide-era victims and their heirs.
"Although we are disappointed the Court did not grant certiorari in
this case, the proper scope of the foreign affairs preemption doctrine
is an important issue that we believe the Court will end up examining
in the future," explained plaintiffs' lead attorney Igor Timofeyev,
Esq. of Paul Hastings LLP.
"The refusal of the Supreme Court to review the Ninth Circuit's
decision does not mean Armenian Americans are without avenues of
redress and we will not be deterred from pursuing what even the
Solicitor General and lower courts have recognized as unremedied
claims," explained ANCA Government Affairs Director Kate Nahapetian.
Bingham McCutcheon LLP partner David Balabanian made clear that "this
case concerned the balance between federal and state authority in
matters affecting foreign relations, not the propriety of recognition
and redress for the evils visited upon Turkey's Armenians by the last
Ottoman rulers and denied by their successors." Balabanian represented
a series of human rights and public policy groups including the
Armenian Bar Association, Armenian National Committee of America,
Zoryan Institute for Contemporary Armenian Research and Documentation,
Inc., Genocide Education Project, Jewish Alliance for Law and Social
Action, Center for the Study of Law & Genocide, and the International
Human Rights Clinic of the University of Southern California Gould
School of Law in filing an amicus brief in support of plaintiffs
position earlier in the process.
"Today, the Republic of Turkey was permitted to infringe upon and
strike at the core of our States' principal foundations of enacting
good laws and good aims," explained Garo Ghazarian, Esq. Chairman of
the Armenian Bar Association.
The Armenian Genocide-era insurance claims case has traveled a long and
complex legal path, which has included three separate and conflicting
opinions from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the most recent
on February 23, 2012. That decision struck down the California law
extending the statute of limitations for certain life insurance
claims based on an unprecedented expansion of the rarely invoked
doctrine of foreign affairs field preemption. Defendant Munich Re,
a German insurance company, is represented by Neil Soltman of Mayer
Brown's Los Angeles office.
Plaintiffs' petition to the Supreme Court to hear the case was filed
by Igor Timofeyev of Paul Hastings, LLP. Claims for unpaid life
insurance policies dating back to the Armenian Genocide were first
brought by plaintiffs' attorney Vartkes Yeghiayan. Attorneys who have
been representing plaintiffs include Lee Crawford Boyd, Rajika Shah,
Mark Geragos, and Brian Kabateck.
Among the parties supporting plaintiffs' appeal were California
Attorney General Kamala Harris, who was joined by Nevada Attorney
General Catherine Cortez Masto, Michigan Attorney General Bill
Schuette, and Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Kilmartin. Attorneys
General Masto and Kilmartin had also joined Attorney General Harris on
a previous amicus brief, when it was before the Ninth Circuit. Leading
up to the filing, the ANCA had organized a citizen campaign to engage
attorneys general from across the country about the importance of this
case and defending Armenian-American property claims. An amicus brief
also was filed by several federal and state legislators, including
Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-Calif.), who was a lead author of the
California statute at issue when she was a California State Senator,
Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Howard Berman
(D-Calif.), Representatives David Cicilline (D-R.I.), Anna Eshoo
(D-Calif.), Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), Ed Royce (R-Calif.), Adam Schiff
(D-Calif.), and Brad Sherman (D-Calif.). Members of the legislature
of the State of California who joined the brief were Senate President
pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg, Majority Leader of the Assembly Charles
Calderon (D-58), Senator Kevin de Leon (D-22), Assembly Members Katcho
Achadjian (R-33), and Anthony Portantino (D-44).
A series of amicus briefs were filed in support of the plaintiffs'
petition including a filing by U.S. Federal and State legislators,
filed by attorneys Mary-Christine Sungaila and Seepan Parseghian at
the firm of Snell and Willmer, LLP.
The complete set of filings can be viewed here.
http://www.anca.org/legal/insuranceclaims
http://www.armenianweekly.com/2013/06/10/supreme-court-will-not-review-armenian-genocide-era-insurance-claims-case/
June 10, 2013
WASHINGTON-The U.S. Supreme Court, today, announced that it will not
review a Ninth Circuit Court decision which struck down a California
law extending the statute of limitations on Armenian Genocide-era
insurance claims cases, reported the Armenian National Committee of
America (ANCA).
The Supreme Court's decision not to review the case lets stand a
lower court decision which effectively prevents U.S. citizens from
pursuing redress for unpaid insurance claims by using the rarely
invoked foreign affairs pre-emption doctrine. Plaintiffs challenged
that assertion in a May 24th brief, filed by lead appellate attorney
Igor Timofeyev, calling it "a revolutionary proposition [by the U.S.
Government] that states lack all authority to enact legislation
concerning their citizens' private claims if they originate in events
that occurred abroad."
Plaintiffs' attorney and Armenian Americans groups expressed dismay
about the Supreme Court decision and a commitment to continue efforts
to secure justice for genocide-era victims and their heirs.
"Although we are disappointed the Court did not grant certiorari in
this case, the proper scope of the foreign affairs preemption doctrine
is an important issue that we believe the Court will end up examining
in the future," explained plaintiffs' lead attorney Igor Timofeyev,
Esq. of Paul Hastings LLP.
"The refusal of the Supreme Court to review the Ninth Circuit's
decision does not mean Armenian Americans are without avenues of
redress and we will not be deterred from pursuing what even the
Solicitor General and lower courts have recognized as unremedied
claims," explained ANCA Government Affairs Director Kate Nahapetian.
Bingham McCutcheon LLP partner David Balabanian made clear that "this
case concerned the balance between federal and state authority in
matters affecting foreign relations, not the propriety of recognition
and redress for the evils visited upon Turkey's Armenians by the last
Ottoman rulers and denied by their successors." Balabanian represented
a series of human rights and public policy groups including the
Armenian Bar Association, Armenian National Committee of America,
Zoryan Institute for Contemporary Armenian Research and Documentation,
Inc., Genocide Education Project, Jewish Alliance for Law and Social
Action, Center for the Study of Law & Genocide, and the International
Human Rights Clinic of the University of Southern California Gould
School of Law in filing an amicus brief in support of plaintiffs
position earlier in the process.
"Today, the Republic of Turkey was permitted to infringe upon and
strike at the core of our States' principal foundations of enacting
good laws and good aims," explained Garo Ghazarian, Esq. Chairman of
the Armenian Bar Association.
The Armenian Genocide-era insurance claims case has traveled a long and
complex legal path, which has included three separate and conflicting
opinions from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the most recent
on February 23, 2012. That decision struck down the California law
extending the statute of limitations for certain life insurance
claims based on an unprecedented expansion of the rarely invoked
doctrine of foreign affairs field preemption. Defendant Munich Re,
a German insurance company, is represented by Neil Soltman of Mayer
Brown's Los Angeles office.
Plaintiffs' petition to the Supreme Court to hear the case was filed
by Igor Timofeyev of Paul Hastings, LLP. Claims for unpaid life
insurance policies dating back to the Armenian Genocide were first
brought by plaintiffs' attorney Vartkes Yeghiayan. Attorneys who have
been representing plaintiffs include Lee Crawford Boyd, Rajika Shah,
Mark Geragos, and Brian Kabateck.
Among the parties supporting plaintiffs' appeal were California
Attorney General Kamala Harris, who was joined by Nevada Attorney
General Catherine Cortez Masto, Michigan Attorney General Bill
Schuette, and Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Kilmartin. Attorneys
General Masto and Kilmartin had also joined Attorney General Harris on
a previous amicus brief, when it was before the Ninth Circuit. Leading
up to the filing, the ANCA had organized a citizen campaign to engage
attorneys general from across the country about the importance of this
case and defending Armenian-American property claims. An amicus brief
also was filed by several federal and state legislators, including
Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-Calif.), who was a lead author of the
California statute at issue when she was a California State Senator,
Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Howard Berman
(D-Calif.), Representatives David Cicilline (D-R.I.), Anna Eshoo
(D-Calif.), Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), Ed Royce (R-Calif.), Adam Schiff
(D-Calif.), and Brad Sherman (D-Calif.). Members of the legislature
of the State of California who joined the brief were Senate President
pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg, Majority Leader of the Assembly Charles
Calderon (D-58), Senator Kevin de Leon (D-22), Assembly Members Katcho
Achadjian (R-33), and Anthony Portantino (D-44).
A series of amicus briefs were filed in support of the plaintiffs'
petition including a filing by U.S. Federal and State legislators,
filed by attorneys Mary-Christine Sungaila and Seepan Parseghian at
the firm of Snell and Willmer, LLP.
The complete set of filings can be viewed here.
http://www.anca.org/legal/insuranceclaims