SCOTUS Denies Cert. in LICRA v. Yahoo!

BNA reported yesterday in US Law Week’s Supreme Court Today that the Supreme Court has denied certiorari in La Ligue Contre le Racisme et l'Antisemitisme v. Yahoo! Inc., No. 05-1302, 2006 WL 993483. By denying review, the Supreme Court allowed to stand a Ninth Circuit decision, Yahoo! Inc. v. La Ligue Contre Le Racisme Et L'Antisemitisme, 433 F.3d 1199 (9th Cir. January 12, 2006), that reversed the district court’s ruling that personal jurisdiction existed over the French defendants, and that French court orders were unenforceable “by six-judge majority, three of whom find action not ripe, and three of whom find that district court lacked personal jurisdiction over French citizens, even though total of eight judges agree that district court properly exercised personal jurisdiction over French citizens.”

The questions presented in the case were as follows:

(1) By litigating bona fide claim in foreign court and receiving favorable judgment, does foreign party automatically assent to being haled into court in other litigant's home forum?

(2) Under "effects" test set forth in Calder v. Jones, must underlying action in non-contract case be tortious or otherwise wrongful to justify exercise of personal jurisdiction, or is "express aiming" of any action, regardless of culpability, sufficient?