Admissions
- Washington, DC
- Maryland
- Various federal courts up to the Supreme Court
Education
- Harvard University, LLB (1967)
- Brown University, BA (1964)
Overview
Thomas G. Corcoran Jr. Specializes in international civil litigation and appeals in U.S. federal courts. Mr. Corcoran has very extensive experience particularly in the defense of foreign states in U.S. courts and foreign entities under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA). Prior to practicing law, Mr. Corcoran served as an officer in the United States Navy, including duty with a U.S. Marine Corps company in Vietnam. Prior to entering private practice, he served in the office of the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia.
Thomas Corcoran Jr. has been in general litigation practice representing clients including foreign governments before courts around the country including the United States Supreme Court, and has been an attorney at Berliner, Corcoran & Rowe since 1990. Including his numerous FSIA cases, Mr. Corcoran has been counsel on more than a hundred decided cases.
Representative Experience
- Obtained dismissal of case against the President of the Republic of China (Taiwan) on the grounds of presidential immunity although the Republic of China is not diplomatically recognized by the United States.
- Won an Alien Tort Suit against the Hungarian Central Bank and three private banks for $75 Billion in damages arising out of alleged wrongful retention of Jewish assets looted during the Hungarian Holocaust.
- Won a FSIA attachment proceeding for Iran regarding Persepolis artifacts under study at the University of Chicago; an important case on the issue of the scope of interlocutory appeals and what foreign state assets can be attached after judgement against a foreign state.
- Affirmed the district court’s 2001 grant of Germany’s motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction against an argument raised by the 7th Circuit that jus cogens violation by Germany constitutes waiver of sovereign immunity under the FSIA – this is the leading case for the proposition that a violation of jus cogens does not waive sovereign immunity under the FSIA.
- Represented the Coordination Council—then Taiwan’s unofficial embassy in the United States—in 1988 in the leading case for the proposition that Taiwan is entitled to treatment as if a foreign state under U.S. law and under the FSIA, despite derecognition of its government as the government of China.
Practice Focus
- International Law
- Litigation
- Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA)