Questions of Foreign Law Can Be Decided on a Motion to Dismiss

On May 13, 2025, the First Department issued a decision in South32 Chile Copper Holdings Pty Ltd v. Sumitomo Metal Min. Co., Ltd., 2025 NY Slip Op. 02892, holding that questions of foreign law can be decided on a motion to dismiss, explaining:

The parties’ experts’ disagreement about foreign law also does not require denial of defendants’ motion to dismiss. The construction of foreign law is a legal question appropriate for summary resolution and can be based, inter alia, on expert affidavits interpreting the relevant legal provisions. It is not the credibility of the experts that is at issue, it is the persuasive force of the opinions they expressed.

(Internal quotations and citations omitted).

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