Back in 2009, we named an Alien Tort Claim case, Abdullahi v. Pfizer, 562 F.3d 163 (2d Cir. 2009), to our "bottom ten" list of the worst cases of the year. We were offended that any court would allow a pharmaceutical company to be proscecuted for irregularities in overseas clinical trials under a law meant for crimes against humanity. We expressed hope that the Supreme Court would grant certiorari in Abdullahi and reverse, but that didn't happen.

Well, today the Court granted certiorari in a case that, if favorably decided, would eliminate cases like Abdullahi. The case is Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum, 10-1491 (U.S., cert. granted Oct.17, 2011). The question presented does not directly address our personal gripes with Abdullahi, but would get rid of all Alien Tort Claim cases against corporations on jurisdictional grounds - achieving the same result on different grounds.