Print- The First Circuit has created an intermediate standard by merging the restrictive and liberal standards. See Quaak v. Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler Bedrijfsrevisoren, 361 F.3d 11, 19 (1st Cir. 2004). International comity considerations generally establish a rebuttable presumption against anti-suit injunctions. Quaak, 361 F.3d at 18. Quaak states that courts should consider the “totality of the circumstances” and analyze equitable considerations when determining whether to grant an anti-suit injunction. Id. at 19. A court should grant an anti-suit injunction when those equitable considerations outweigh the court’s interest in comity.
- Quaak consolidated multiple allegations of securities fraud by American litigants against a Belgian auditing firm. The case arose when American plaintiffs accused the Belgian auditing firm of securities fraud after one of the firm’s American publicly-traded clients folded. During American legal proceedings, the Belgian firm did not forfeit relevant work documentation. However, a magistrate judge demanded that the Belgian firm produce the documents. Subsequent to the orders of the American judge, the Belgian firm sought relief in a Belgian court. The firm asked the Belgian court to sanction any person executing the American discovery request. In response, the American plaintiffs requested that the district court enjoin the Belgian firm from continuing its Belgian proceedings. The district court granted the plaintiffs’ request. The First Circuit explained that in determining whether to issue an anti-suit injunction, district courts should analyze various factors. Courts should first ensure that parallel non-U.S. and U.S. litigation pertain to the same parties and issues. If the suits pass that threshold test, courts should consider issues of international comity. Considerations of international comity generally create a rebuttable presumption against issuing an anti-suit injunction. However, “in every case a district court should examine the totality of the circumstances…[and] if, after giving due regard to the circumstances, including the salient interest in international comity, a court supportably finds that equitable considerations preponderate in favor of relief, it may issue an international anti-suit injunction.” Quaak, 361 F.3d at 19.
Ch. 10 Anti-Suit Injunctions: Enjoining Non-U.S. Court Proceedings in U.S. Courts
LOUIS M. SOLOMON,
COURTNEY TAYLOR*
V. Intermediate Standard
* Not Yet Admitted