Andrew St. Laurent, Joseph DeBlasi Write on Foreign Sovereign Immunity for New York Law Journal
July 14, 2025
Harris St. Laurent & Wechsler LLP partner Andrew St. Laurent and associate Joseph DeBlasi published an article with the New York Law Journal examining how the foreign sovereign immunity doctrine may complicate the Department of Justice's enhanced enforcement efforts against foreign actors.
The article, "An Unforeseen Obstacle? How the Doctrine of Foreign Sovereign Immunity May Impede the DOJ's Enforcement Efforts Against Foreign Actors," addresses potential legal challenges arising from a May 2025 DOJ memorandum setting forth ten priority white-collar enforcement areas targeting foreign actors.
The memorandum targets financial institutions and their insiders for sanctions violations, complex money laundering operations, including Chinese organizations, and bribery affecting U.S. interests. Foreign defendants in these cases will inevitably claim immunity, forcing courts to navigate uncharted legal territory.
In their article, St. Laurent and DeBlasi analyze recent Supreme Court and circuit court decisions, particularly Turkiye Halk Bankasi A.S. v. United States, providing guidance for practitioners on when immunity claims might succeed in criminal prosecutions of foreign state-owned entities and officials.
St. Laurent and DeBlasi discuss both FSIA and common-law immunity, particularly the commercial activity exception and how courts have ruled on foreign officials claiming protection for "official acts." The authors highlight gaps in the law, such as bribery cases where the conduct might be considered "purely political" activity.
About the Authors:
St. Laurent has tried more than 20 cases to verdict in federal and state courts, as well as in FINRA, AAA and JAMS arbitrations. His practice includes employment disputes, shareholder and partnership litigation and criminal and regulatory defense matters.
DeBlasi is an associate at the firm focusing on white-collar defense and complex commercial litigation.