Judge Shira A. Scheindlin, 62 years old, is a United States District Court judge for the Southern District of New York. She was nominated by President Bill Clinton on July 28, 1994 to a seat vacated by Louis J. Freeh, had her appointment confirmed by the United States Senate on September 28, 1994 and was commissioned on September 29, 1994. She is an alumnus of Cornell Law School, the University of Michigan and of Columbia University.

1. The hearing that took place in New York on Thursday, February 26, 2009 considered oral arguments from attorneys for the plaintiffs and the defendants in the Khulumani and the Ntsebeza claims. The hearing considered the defendants' motion for the claims to be dismissed. It lasted two and a half hours with the attorneys being questioned for around a half hour each.

2. The presiding judge, Judge Scheindlin (Photo, right), was reportedly extremely well-prepared and well-versed in all the issues relevant to the arguments. It was clear that she had thoroughly evaluated the comprehensive record – a fact appreciated by all the attorneys acting for the plaintiffs.

On October 24, 2008, Michael Hausfeld's firm Hausfeld LLP, filed an amended claim in the Khulumani apartheid litigation. The amended claim is officially cited as First Amended Complaint for Docket MDL No.02-md-1499 (JES); Jury Trial Demanded, Class Action.

The amended civil claim identifies as the plaintiffs in the litigation Khulumani, the plaintiff organisation that provides assistance to victims of apartheid atrocities, on behalf of itself, and thirteen individual plaintiffs or “class plaintiffs” on behalf of themselves and all other individuals similarly situated.

Attachments:

File
5-1-09 Second Amended Complaint.pdf

Michael Hausfeld is one of the United State's top civil litigators, and joined the Law Firm, Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll, P.L.L.C. in 1971. He is the head of the Antitrust and International practice groups. He currently represents Jubilee 2000, Khulumani, and other NGOs in litigation involving abuses under apartheid law in South Africa, and is pursuing a RICO litigation against the tobacco industry with regard to the sale of and representations on “light” cigarettes.

Attachments:

File
Hausfeld_October21_2003_WITS-Univ.pdf
M.Hausfeld-Legal-Times.pdf

By Georgene M. Vairo: The National Law Journal. Some of the most explosive litigation battles with humongous stakes involve foreign plaintiffs suing multinational companies, including U.S. corporations, allegedly involved in human rights violations.The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Filartiga v. Pena-Irala, 630 F.2d 876 (2nd Cir. 1980), opened the federal courthouse door to the aggressive use of the Alien Tort Claims Act in human rights litigation.