Pryor Cashman filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, weighing in on the issue of limiting standing to sue by foreign beneficiaries of U.S. charities.
Partners Shveta Kakar and Daniel Kurtz and Associate Abla Belhachmi filed the brief in support of appellees, Profs. Emerita Ellen Aprill and Miriam Galston, Prof. Jill Manny, and former Lawyers Alliance Executive Director Sean Delany.
The brief notes that the amici's interest in the case, which involves claims by the foreign beneficiary, Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, against the American Foundation for Basic Research in Israel, Inc. to hand over donations it collected in the U.S.:
...comes from concern with the expansion of New York law to bestow standing on foreign beneficiaries of a U.S. charity, which would usurp the authority of the State Attorney General, increase vexatious litigation, and eviscerate U.S. tax law in this area.
The dispute in front of the court is over whether the overseas beneficiary of U.S. charitable fundraising should have standing to sue. The brief argues:
To confer standing allowing the foreign beneficiary to sue because it did not receive or stopped receiving support from the U.S. charity, would render the discretion and control element meaningless and would open the floodgates — foreign beneficiaries would be able to bring suit against U.S. charities, which includes thousands of "Friends of" organizations. It would also usurp the statutory authority of the New York State Attorney General which is vested with the exclusive authority to enforce the rights of charitable beneficiaries.
Read the full amicus brief using the link above.
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