"The law governing international civil litigation has changed dramatically in the five years since the fourth edition was published. Recent decisions of the United States Supreme Court have had a significant impact on fields such as personal jurisdiction, sovereign immunity, and extraterritoriality. This current edition reflects those changes and raises important questions about the broader implications of those decisions ... Developments in this field are of course not limited to the United States. While the book still focuses primarily on United States law, the current edition deliberately incorporates more excerpts, more extensive references, and more questions concerning foreign law, especially European law. In part, this reflects an important reality--that successful practice in this area, even for the United States lawyer, requires a keen understanding of other legal systems". -- PREFACE OF THE FIFTH EDITON.

Globalization of legal traffic and the inherent necessity of having to litigate in foreign courts or to enforce judgments in other countries considerably complicate civil proceedings due to great differences in civil procedure. This may consequently jeopardize access to justice. This triggers the debate on the need for harmonization of civil procedure. In recent years, this debate has gained in importance because of new legislative and practical developments both at the European and the global level. This book discusses the globalization and harmonization of civil procedure from the angles of legal history, law and economics and (European) policy. Attention is paid to the interaction with private law and private international law, and European and global projects that aim at the harmonization of civil procedure or providing guidelines for fair and efficient adjudication. It further includes contributions that focus on globalization and harmonization of civil procedure from the viewpoint of eight different jurisdictions. This book is an unique combination of theory and practice and valuable for academic researchers in the area of civil procedure, private international law, international law as well as policy makers (national and EU), lawyers, judges and bailiffs.

An International Court of Civil Justice would give victims of multinationals a day in court while offering corporate defendants a cheaper, fairer litigation alternative.

First of a series to be prepared by the Project on International Procedure of the Columbia University School of Law.

"Formerly known as the International Citation Manual"--p. xv.

A desk reference for lawyers and their clients faced with the prospect of litigation in foreign jurisdictions, this book is a guide to the civil procedure rules and practices in thirty-two major countries and in the European Community. Local rules relating to arbitration and, where available, mediation are also covered.