On October 5th the U.S. Supreme Court heard its first argument on the first day of the October 2015 Term in a case testing whether the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act bars lawsuits from being brought in the United States against an agency of a foreign state for accidents or injuries sustained by U.S. citizens while abroad. The case, OBB Personenverkeher AG v. Sachs, 13-1067, involves the Austrian national railroad and a California resident, Carol Sachs, who lost both of her legs while a passenger in Austria, but who purchased her train ticket in the United States.

The Supreme Court Litigation Clinic, together with its co-counsel, Becker and Becker PC, represented Ms. Sachs, and Jeffrey Fisher argued on behalf of the respondent. Three Stanford Law students who worked on the Sachs case – Snayha Nath (SLS ‘15), Michael Qian (SLS ’16) and Nicholas Rosellini (SLS ’16) – assisted with argument preparations and attended the argument itself.

For more detailed information and analysis of the Sachs case and the argument, see coverage in the SCOTUSBlog.