Devas, a telecommunications provider in India formed by U.S. businessmen, obtained a $1.3 billion arbitral award for breach of contract against Antrix Corporation Ltd., a corporation wholly owned by the Republic of India and incorporated by the government to market goods and services created by its space program. Devas petitioned to confirm the arbitral award in the Western District of Washington, relying on the arbitral exception to immunity under the FSIA.  See 28 U.S.C. § 1605(a)(6).

Because subject-matter jurisdiction existed over Devas’s claim under the arbitral exception to immunity, the district court concluded that personal jurisdiction likewise existed without the need for a “minimum contacts” analysis to determine whether the parties’ dispute arose from Antrix’s contacts with the United States. It thus confirmed the award and entered judgment for roughly $1.3 billion.

On appeal, the Ninth Circuit ruled that the district court was bound to apply a minimum-contacts analysis by longstanding circuit precedent. The panel held that the district court erred in exercising personal jurisdiction over Antrix. Two judges on the panel recognized that the Ninth Circuit’s precedent conflicts with the views of every other court of appeals to address this issue. Devas petitioned for rehearing en banc, which the Ninth Circuit denied over the dissent of seven judges. Those judges emphasized that the FSIA’s text does not require a minimum-contacts analysis and that the Ninth Circuit is the only federal court to hold that the FSIA requires plaintiffs to prove minimum contacts before a court may assert personal jurisdiction over a foreign state.

Devas petitioned the Supreme Court to resolve the circuit split caused by the Ninth Circuit’s outlier position. A decision is likely to be issued by June 2025.

The Baker Botts team includes Aaron Streett (Houston), Vern Cassin (Washington, D.C.), and Christopher Tutunjian (Houston).

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