October 13, 2020 Update
Dear Sudanese American friends:
We hope you, your families, and your communities remain safe and well. We miss being able to travel to visit you, but look forward to resuming in the new year. In the meantime, we welcome you to contact attorney Kathryn Lee Boyd by phone, email, or text at any time.
We are writing with an update on our case against BNP Paribas Bank on behalf of Sudanese victims who fled the violence in Sudan. The judge has ordered that on November 5, 2020, she will hear oral argument from us about why we believe the case should go forward. She also will hear from the lawyers for the bank. We do not expect the hearing to be in person, but instead to be held by telephone or video. Our written arguments that the judge will read in advance of this hearing are available here. We do not know how long after the oral argument the judge will make a decision about whether the case can go forward, but we hope to have good news soon.
Faithfully,
Kathryn (Lee) Boyd, Shira Feldman, Conor McDonough, Alan Alvela, and Andrew Cometa (from the Hecht Partners team)
Brent Landau, Scott Gilmore, Claire Rosset, Amanda Lee-DasGupta, and Jim Mitchell (from the Hausfeld team)
We hope you, your families, and your communities remain safe and well. We miss being able to travel to visit you, but look forward to resuming in the new year. In the meantime, we welcome you to contact attorney Kathryn Lee Boyd by phone, email, or text at any time.
We are writing with an update on our case against BNP Paribas Bank on behalf of Sudanese victims who fled the violence in Sudan. The judge has ordered that on November 5, 2020, she will hear oral argument from us about why we believe the case should go forward. She also will hear from the lawyers for the bank. We do not expect the hearing to be in person, but instead to be held by telephone or video. Our written arguments that the judge will read in advance of this hearing are available here. We do not know how long after the oral argument the judge will make a decision about whether the case can go forward, but we hope to have good news soon.
Faithfully,
Kathryn (Lee) Boyd, Shira Feldman, Conor McDonough, Alan Alvela, and Andrew Cometa (from the Hecht Partners team)
Brent Landau, Scott Gilmore, Claire Rosset, Amanda Lee-DasGupta, and Jim Mitchell (from the Hausfeld team)
July 17, 2020 Update
Dear Sudanese American friends:
We hope you, your families, and your communities are safe and well. We have heard that many Sudanese communities have suffered illness and losses and we are deeply sorry. We will continue to keep you all in our thoughts and prayers.
Many of you have reached out to ask for updates on our case against BNP Paribas Bank on behalf of Sudanese victims who fled the violence in Sudan.
The Case
We believe the case is going well. As we wrote to you in March, the judge has decided that if the case is to proceed, it must proceed under Swiss law, not New York or Sudanese law. We are working with an excellent Swiss legal expert and in August we will present to the Court our arguments about how Swiss law applies to the facts of our case. In September, the Court may schedule a hearing with our expert and the Bank’s expert. After the hearing, we expect to have a decision by the Court either permitting the case to continue or deciding to dismiss it.
We are confident in our arguments and hopeful that they will succeed, but of course we cannot guarantee that they will.
Contacting Us
We have a new email address. You can now contact us at sudanvictims@hechtpartners.com.
Additional Updates
During the early days of the pandemic, Pierce Bainbridge Beck Price & Hecht (“Pierce”), the former firm of attorney Kathryn Lee Boyd, who has been leading this case, broke apart into a number of smaller law firms. Ms. Boyd, as well as counsel Shira Feldman, joined one of the new firms, Hecht Partners. Pierce, the former firm, has withdrawn from the case. Hecht Partners—with Ms. Boyd and her case team—continues to be co-counsel on this case with Hausfeld, the law firm based in Washington D.C.
We are pleased to inform you that on June 25, 2020, the Court appointed Ms. Boyd, of Hecht Partners, and Brent Landau, of Hausfeld, as co-lead interim counsel for the class of Sudanese victims. This appointment is an honor and a privilege. The Court has ordered that the law firms will share responsibilities that include investigating the case, making arguments to the Court, and presenting evidence to the judge and the jury. That order by the Court is on our case website here.
Community Meetings
We have had inquiries about when we will visit your communities. We want very much to have face-to-face meetings around the country, and we are committed to resuming our visits to your communities as soon as it is safe to travel again.
Best wishes for your health and safety,
Kathryn (Lee) Boyd, Shira Feldman, Conor McDonough, and Andrew Cometa (from the Hecht Partners team)
Brent Landau, Scott Gilmore, Claire Rosset, and Jim Mitchell (from the Hausfeld team)
We hope you, your families, and your communities are safe and well. We have heard that many Sudanese communities have suffered illness and losses and we are deeply sorry. We will continue to keep you all in our thoughts and prayers.
Many of you have reached out to ask for updates on our case against BNP Paribas Bank on behalf of Sudanese victims who fled the violence in Sudan.
The Case
We believe the case is going well. As we wrote to you in March, the judge has decided that if the case is to proceed, it must proceed under Swiss law, not New York or Sudanese law. We are working with an excellent Swiss legal expert and in August we will present to the Court our arguments about how Swiss law applies to the facts of our case. In September, the Court may schedule a hearing with our expert and the Bank’s expert. After the hearing, we expect to have a decision by the Court either permitting the case to continue or deciding to dismiss it.
We are confident in our arguments and hopeful that they will succeed, but of course we cannot guarantee that they will.
Contacting Us
We have a new email address. You can now contact us at sudanvictims@hechtpartners.com.
Additional Updates
During the early days of the pandemic, Pierce Bainbridge Beck Price & Hecht (“Pierce”), the former firm of attorney Kathryn Lee Boyd, who has been leading this case, broke apart into a number of smaller law firms. Ms. Boyd, as well as counsel Shira Feldman, joined one of the new firms, Hecht Partners. Pierce, the former firm, has withdrawn from the case. Hecht Partners—with Ms. Boyd and her case team—continues to be co-counsel on this case with Hausfeld, the law firm based in Washington D.C.
We are pleased to inform you that on June 25, 2020, the Court appointed Ms. Boyd, of Hecht Partners, and Brent Landau, of Hausfeld, as co-lead interim counsel for the class of Sudanese victims. This appointment is an honor and a privilege. The Court has ordered that the law firms will share responsibilities that include investigating the case, making arguments to the Court, and presenting evidence to the judge and the jury. That order by the Court is on our case website here.
Community Meetings
We have had inquiries about when we will visit your communities. We want very much to have face-to-face meetings around the country, and we are committed to resuming our visits to your communities as soon as it is safe to travel again.
Best wishes for your health and safety,
Kathryn (Lee) Boyd, Shira Feldman, Conor McDonough, and Andrew Cometa (from the Hecht Partners team)
Brent Landau, Scott Gilmore, Claire Rosset, and Jim Mitchell (from the Hausfeld team)
March 3, 2020 Update
Happy 2020! We have good news about our civil case for Sudanese victims against the BNP Paribas bank for financing the Al Bashir regime’s crimes against humanity.
The law moves slowly for complex cases like this, but we want you to know that we are making progress. We are hopeful that 2020 will bring us closer to achieving justice for victims of human rights violations in Sudan.
On March 3, 2020, the judge ruled that our case will be decided under the law of Switzerland, where the Bank is based, not the law of New York state. If you'd like to read the court's decision you can find it here, or on our Key Documents page. The court has asked us and the Bank to gather more information about Swiss law (through a process called expert discovery) and to put forward our best arguments for why the Bank is liable under Swiss law. Once we and the Bank have presented our arguments in the coming months, the Court will decide if the case can proceed. We hope, but cannot guarantee, that we will have a decision on this issue by the end of the year. Luckily, our legal team just got stronger. We are excited to announce that the prestigious international human rights law firm, Hausfeld, has joined us as co-counsel in this case. Based in Washington, D.C., the Hausfeld firm has expertise in representing large numbers of victims who have survived abuses like the Sudanese have suffered, including victims of South African apartheid. If you'd like to learn more about Hausfeld click here.
In addition to briefing the court on our claims under Swiss law, we are investigating how BNP Paribas broke the law by helping the Al Bashir regime—and how the regime committed human rights abuses. Throughout this year, we will be working with community leaders to schedule meetings around the USA with Sudanese survivors who wish to provide information or learn how they can participate in the case.
If you are interested in participating in the case, we would like to meet with you and explain your legal rights. You can email us at SudanVictims@hechtpartners.com and our team will schedule a time to speak. You can also complete the Contact Form.
We know you have waited a long time for justice and we thank you for your patience and for keeping hope alive. Our expanded legal team has more resources than ever and we are committed to bringing the BNP Paribas bank to justice for helping Al Bashir commit crimes against humanity.
The law moves slowly for complex cases like this, but we want you to know that we are making progress. We are hopeful that 2020 will bring us closer to achieving justice for victims of human rights violations in Sudan.
On March 3, 2020, the judge ruled that our case will be decided under the law of Switzerland, where the Bank is based, not the law of New York state. If you'd like to read the court's decision you can find it here, or on our Key Documents page. The court has asked us and the Bank to gather more information about Swiss law (through a process called expert discovery) and to put forward our best arguments for why the Bank is liable under Swiss law. Once we and the Bank have presented our arguments in the coming months, the Court will decide if the case can proceed. We hope, but cannot guarantee, that we will have a decision on this issue by the end of the year. Luckily, our legal team just got stronger. We are excited to announce that the prestigious international human rights law firm, Hausfeld, has joined us as co-counsel in this case. Based in Washington, D.C., the Hausfeld firm has expertise in representing large numbers of victims who have survived abuses like the Sudanese have suffered, including victims of South African apartheid. If you'd like to learn more about Hausfeld click here.
In addition to briefing the court on our claims under Swiss law, we are investigating how BNP Paribas broke the law by helping the Al Bashir regime—and how the regime committed human rights abuses. Throughout this year, we will be working with community leaders to schedule meetings around the USA with Sudanese survivors who wish to provide information or learn how they can participate in the case.
If you are interested in participating in the case, we would like to meet with you and explain your legal rights. You can email us at SudanVictims@hechtpartners.com and our team will schedule a time to speak. You can also complete the Contact Form.
We know you have waited a long time for justice and we thank you for your patience and for keeping hope alive. Our expanded legal team has more resources than ever and we are committed to bringing the BNP Paribas bank to justice for helping Al Bashir commit crimes against humanity.
