In Jesner v. Arab Bank, PLC, the Supreme Court foreclosed suit against foreign corporations, making it clear that, under the Alien Tort Statute (“ATS”), persons injured or killed by terrorist acts committed abroad could not pursue claims for damages against foreign corporations and international banking institutions that allegedly financed and facilitated terrorist activities. The future of such claims under the Antiterrorism Act (“ATA”) is less clear, particularly when viewed in the context of the Justice Against Terrorism Act (“JASTA”) and the Second Circuit’s recent decision in Linde v. Arab Bank, PLC, which seem to support claims of aiding and abetting and conspiracy against foreign entities that provide material support to terrorist organizations.

Judge Pollak graduated magna cum laude from Princeton University and received her J.D. degree from the University of Chicago Law School, where she was an Editor of the Law Review, in 1978. She served as law clerk to the Honorable William H. Timbers on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and, from 1979 to 1986, was an associate at Davis Polk & Wardwell. She held various positions in the office of the US Attorney for the Eastern District of NY and was appointed Magistrate Judge in 1995.

Judge Pollak is a member of the ABA and the New York City Bar, where she has been a member of the Federal Courts, Women in the Legal Profession, and Criminal Law Committees. She chairs the Eastern District CJA Panel Committee and was a member of the Eastern District Advisory Committee on Civil Practice and Rules. Judge Pollak served as a Master in the Inns of Court for the Federal Bar Council. She has participated in Moot Court, mock trial and trial advocacy programs at Columbia, NYU, Cardozo, St. John’s, Brooklyn and New York Law Schools. Judge Pollak supervises the SOS Program involving youthful offenders.