9th Cir. Says Foreign Bank Did Not Waive Personal Jurisdiction Defense in Contract Dispute

SAN FRANCISCO — A foreign bank did not waive its personal jurisdiction defense by asserting counterclaims in a contract dispute, a federal appellate court ruled, noting the bank timely asserted personal jurisdiction as a defense and litigated the issue to a decision from the lower court.

On Sept. 7, the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals then held that personal jurisdiction over the bank is lacking because the plaintiff had not alleged that the bank had sufficient contacts with the United States.

In 2007, InfoSpan (Gulf) Inc., a Cayman Islands corporation, approached Emirates Bank International (which later merged with the …