Teresa Rosen Peacocke successfully challenges jurisdiction of New York district court on behalf of UK clients

A US District Court Judge has granted the Motion filed by Teresa Rosen Peacocke to dismiss the claim by pharmaceutical conglomerate Abbott Laboratories and related companies, against a UK based company and its principals on the basis that the court lacked personal jurisdiction over these defendants.

In this case, Abbott seeks relief against 300 defendants, including several foreign entities and individuals, for the allegedly unlawful importation, distribution and sale of international medical device products, as part of an alleged conspiracy to defraud Abbott and US insurers and in breach of federal trademark legislation. The District Court for the Eastern District of New York granted temporary injunctions and ordered discovery against all defendants, and Teresa Peacocke, as attorney of record assisted by London solicitors, challenged the jurisdiction of the New York Court on behalf of their English-based clients. Teresa obtained a stay of the Court’s orders and a cross claim brought against her clients by other defendants, pending the determination of her motion to dismiss the action on the grounds that the Court lacked jurisdiction over her clients, that Abbott had failed to state a claim against her clients, and on the principle of forum non conveniens.

On 30 March 2017, whilst Teresa attended Abbott’s deposition of the cross claimant in New York, the Court issued judgment granting her motion to dismiss the action against her clients, concluding that it “lacks statutory or constitutional grounds to exercise personal jurisdiction” over the UK defendants. On this basis, the Judge further held that there was no basis upon which it needed to, or could, adjudicate the remaining issues raised in the defendants’ motion. Following judgment on the motion, attorneys for the cross claimants agreed to dismiss their cross claim. The judgment can be found here.

Teresa is dual qualified as an English barrister and an attorney qualified to practise in New York and (pro hac vice) elsewhere in the US. She is regularly instructed by English solicitors on behalf of corporate and individual clients to act in US litigation, arbitration and mediations. Teresa, and other members of Outer Temple Chambers qualified to practise in the US, act as attorneys of record alone or as co-counsel with US attorneys, to assist UK clients exposed to US claims. Teresa has been qualified as a New York attorney since 2004 and practises from chambers in London and in chambers’ office in New York.

News 6 Apr, 2017