Nicholas J. Jacques

Current Cases

In re Chiquita Brands International Inc. Litigation

In re Chiquita Brands International Inc. Litigation (S.D. Fla.): Cohen Milstein represents hundreds of Colombian citizens who allege that they or their family members were victims of torture or extrajudicial killing committed by the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC), a paramilitary group designated by the United States government as a “Foreign Terrorist Organization,” during armed conflict in Colombia in the 1990s and early 2000s. Plaintiffs allege that the deaths of their relatives were a direct and foreseeable result of Chiquita’s financial support of the AUC. The case is proceeding under Colombian law against Chiquita and under the U.S. Torture Victim Protection Act against individual Chiquita executives and board members. On June 10, 2024, after a six-week bellwether jury trial, the jury found Chiquita responsible for the wrongful deaths of eight men who were murdered by AUC and awarded the surviving family members $38.3 million in damages for their deaths.

Kasim Kurd, et al. v. The Republic of Turkey

Kurd v. The Republic of Turkey (D.D.C.): Cohen Milstein represents fifteen people, including a seven-year-old girl with her father, a mother pushing a four-year-old in a stroller, students, and local small business owners, who had gathered at Sheridan Circle in Washington, D.C., to peacefully protest the Erdogan regime’s treatment of its Kurdish community. They were brutally attacked by President Erdogan’s security detail, who pushed past a line of law enforcement officers to kick, stomp and bludgeon the demonstrators. The attack was captured on video, resulted in criminal indictments, and was condemned by the United States Congress. The Republic of Turkey claimed it was immune from suit, but the district court disagreed. Agnieszka Fryszman successfully argued the case at the Court of Appeals, obtaining a unanimous opinion holding that Turkey was not entitled to sovereign immunity for the attack.

Ratha, et al v. Phatthana Seafood Co

Ratha, et al v. Phatthana Seafood Co. (C.D. Cal.): Cohen Milstein is representing seven Cambodian plaintiffs in a cross-border human rights lawsuit involving human trafficking, forced labor, involuntary servitude, and peonage by factories in Thailand that produce shrimp and seafood for export to the United States.

Past Cases

ExxonMobil -Villagers of Aceh Litigation

John Doe I v. ExxonMobil Corporation (D.D.C.): Cohen Milstein represented eleven villagers from Aceh, Indonesia, who alleged that they or their relatives endured horrific human rights abuses, including murder, torture, sexual violence, and kidnapping, at the hands of Indonesian soldiers contracted by ExxonMobil to guard its oil operations in the region. On May 15, 2023, a week before a jury trial was to start and after 22 years of litigation, the case settled. Although the case was litigated in U.S. federal court, Indonesian law applied to Plaintiffs’ claims and was applied by the court. The case set numerous legal precedents during its 20-year history, during which it saw two trips to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals (decided January 2007 and July 2011) and one to the Supreme Court (certiorari was denied in 2008). Each time, novel issues of foreign policy impact, extraterritorial jurisdiction, and choice of law were briefed and considered by the Court of Appeals. In August 2022, months before trial, the district court largely denied ExxonMobil’s motion for summary judgment, finding most of its arguments “entirely meritless.” Cohen Milstein and co-counsel were awarded the 2024 Public Justice Trial Lawyer of the Year Award for the successful resolution of this case.

Paul Rusesabagina, et al. v. The Republic of Rwanda, et al.

Paul Rusesabagina, et al. v. The Republic of Rwanda, et al. (D.D.C.): Cohen Milstein represented U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom winner Paul Rusesabagina and his family against the Republic of Rwanda, the President of Rwanda and other members of the government for allegedly kidnapping Mr. Rusesabagina and taking him back to Rwanda, where he was imprisoned, tortured and subjected to a sham trial. Mr. Rusesabagina is perhaps best known for saving thousands of lives during the Rwandan genocide in 1994, a story that inspired the Academy Award-nominated film, Hotel Rwanda. On March 16, 2023, the court held that three Rwandan officials must face plaintiffs' claims. A week later, after negotiations with the White House, Rwanda released Mr. Rusesabagina and, after two-and-a-half years in captivity, he returned home to the United States.

• Super Lawyers, Rising Stars (2024)