On January 2, 2025, a panel of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously reversed a decision by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida that had dismissed claims brought by Reid Collins’ client North American Sugar Industries, Inc. (“NAS”) under the Helms-Burton Act.
Prior to the Communist Revolution, NAS owned and operated a port in Cuba that the Castro regime confiscated. Under the Helms-Burton Act’s private right of action, NAS is asserting trafficking claims against a Chinese wind-energy company and a group of shipping and logistics companies that engaged in a scheme to traffic in NAS’s confiscated port, including by shipping wind turbines through the Port of Miami en route to Cuba. Before Reid Collins took over the case on appeal, the District Court dismissed all claims for lack of personal jurisdiction based on its holding that the only relevant conduct occurred in Cuba. In a published and precedential opinion, the Eleventh Circuit rejected this narrow view of what constitutes trafficking under the Act and instead endorsed the broad interpretation that NAS advanced on appeal, including that unlawful trafficking can encompass activities outside of Cuba. In remanding the action for further proceedings, the Eleventh Circuit additionally found that the District Court misapplied the legal and factual standards that apply to a motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction.
Congratulations to the Reid Collins trial team – Craig Boneau, Ryan Goldstein, Scott Saldana, Rob LaCroix, and Aaron Brown.
The Eleventh Circuit case is captioned North American Sugar Industries, Inc. v. Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology Co., Ltd., et al., No. 23-10126 (11th Cir.).
A copy of the decision can be downloaded by clicking here.
