OBB Personenverkehr AG v. Sachs (13-1067)
argument 13-1067OBB Personenverkehr AG v. Sachs
Supreme Court of the United States
1h 1m
6 speakers
8 chapters
transcribed 6 days ago
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What is the case OBB Personenverkehr v. Sachs about and why is the Court hearing it today?
We'll hear argument first this morning, first this term, in case thirteen ten sixty seven, OBB personenverkehrd versus Sachs.
Mr.
Barson Brurio.
Mr Chief Justice and may please the court. This personal injury action is based upon an accident that occurred in Austria. If this Court agrees, there's no need to reach the other question related to agency, so I will start first with the based upon issue. In Nelson, this Court set forth a framework to analyse the based upon question. and this Court held that courts must begin their analysis by identifying the particular conduct on which the action is based. The decision uses words such as basis, foundation and gravament.
In in that case There was a distinction between State activity, that is police activity. And the commercial activity in hiring. Uh the plaintiff. Here. I think it's conceded. that the activity running a railroad That's commercial. So we don't have the commercial State action. division.
Yes, Your Honor, that's correct. Here there are two alleged commercial activities. One of them is the sort of ticket in the United States, and the other one are the accent omissions that resulted in the accident in Austria. So what I would suggest is that we look at the complaint and see what it is that the plaintiff has alleged.
Just as a matter of background. Um S suppose a hypothetical case, no foreign sovereign. It was a in de uh a private corporation in Austria. Uh would there then be jurisdiction under the due process clause in your view? You don't have to prevail uh on on that issue. But as a background issue, what do you have a position?
Our position is that if OBB was a private entity, there would not be jurisdiction over OBB. There would not be general jurisdiction after this court holding in Daimler, and there would also be
And Daimler is your best case for that proposition.
In other words, is the test a specific jurisdiction test here? based on arising from that we are basically asking the same question as we would be asking if this were a pro a foreign corporation.
I don't believe so, Your Honor. I let me explain if I may why not. Congress could have chosen the wording in the personal jurisdiction analysis and the case law, but they decided on another phase based upon instead. So I believe that what this court needs to do is give some guidance on
Well but why I mean it doesn't seem to me that that wording is very different from the wording that we've used in specific jurisdiction cases. The wording here is based on we've used arising out of, sometimes we've used related to. In some respects, I mean It's pretty clear that the FSIA is meant To ensure that when a foreign government is acting as a commercial actor, it gets treated like a foreign corporation. And the language here is very similar, right? There's the insistence on a sufficient contact, a minimum contact, and then there is the insistence on a particular kind of relationship between that contact contact and the claim. So it seems I guess the question is why should we think of these two questions as at all different.
And I don't know, by the way, I mean that it would hurt you if they were the same. because it might just be there would be no specific jurisdiction here, you know, but I guess I'm having trouble th of thinking why it is that there that there would be a different test.
The reason why is because the FSIA takes place of the both the subject matter jurisdiction analysis and the personal jurisdiction analysis both are combined into one test. So although I would agree certainly that some aspects of the personal jurisdictional analysis are part of that test, It goes beyond that. It also goes into subject matter jurisdiction, which is a different set of policy determinations that Congress made. that are in some way overlapping of the personal jurisdiction questions, but I don't think they are completely
I don't even understand why. We're talking about based upon. As Justice Ginsburg said, um there's no dispute here that whether the uh based upon is this ticket sale or the operation of the train
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the case OBB Personenverkehr v. Sachs about and why is the Court hearing it today?
0:03–7:45
2
How would the jurisdiction analysis change if OBB were a private company instead of a foreign sovereign?
7:45–10:16
3
What specific‑jurisdiction test does the Court apply under the FSIA and how does it differ from the general‑jurisdiction test?
10:16–23:13
4
What is the three‑step “based‑upon” analysis from *Nelson* and how does it apply to the ticket‑sale versus accident claims?
23:13–35:44
5
Why does the plaintiff’s failure‑to‑warn claim not create a U.S. jurisdictional basis?
35:44–40:37
6
Can a breach‑of‑contract claim based on an un‑honored ticket be heard in U.S. courts?
40:37–47:42
7
How does the FSIA define “commercial activity” and what due‑process contact is required?
47:42–56:08
8
What does the airline/plane hypothetical illustrate about where the gravamen of a claim lies?
56:08–1:01:55