MIAMI — Nov. 23, 2022—Rivero Mestre won an appeal in a Helms-Burton lawsuit against defendants Trivago GMBH, Booking.com B.V., Expedia Inc., and other travel companies on Tuesday.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit reversed the district court’s dismissal of a lawsuit about violations of the Helms-Burton Act by defendants–all businesses that have trafficked in and benefitted from trafficking in properties confiscated by the Cuban government–and remanded the case for further proceedings.

“The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision is a major win for Helms-Burton plaintiffs,” Andres Rivero said. “We look forward to taking our case to a jury and vindicating the rights of our client, whose property is being trafficked illegally.”

In the appeal, Rivero Mestre’s Alan H. Rolnick confronted questions of personal jurisdiction and subject-matter jurisdiction, on which the defendants based their motion to dismiss the complaint. The appellate court agreed the personal jurisdiction challenge was facial and not factual and that Rivero Mestre sufficiently alleged each of the jurisdictional requirements of the subject matter in question.

The Helms-Burton Act provides Cuban-Americans, whose properties in Cuba were confiscated by the communist Castro dictatorship, with the right to recover damages from persons and entities that traffic in, or benefit from trafficking in, their properties. The Act also provides for treble damages against a defendant that received prior notice of the claim and did not stop its trafficking or compensate the owners of the confiscated property.

About Rivero Mestre LLP

Rivero Mestre, from its offices in Miami and New York, represents clients from investigation to verdict and appeal in complex business disputes in U.S. federal courts, state courts, and domestic and international arbitration proceedings. The firm’s practice focuses primarily on representing clients in a broad range of complex commercial disputes including financial institution matters, antitrust matters, intellectual property disputes, and litigation and arbitration relating to Latin American trade and investment. For more information, visit www.riveromestre.com.