Agon is suing in…drum roll…a Russian court. LOL! Good luck with enforcing any judgment obtained from Putin’s Legal Kangaroos. Significantly, Agon did not sue in Federal Court in NY, within the US Second Circuit Court of Appeals after having issued a whitepaper completely mis-representing and mis-interpreting Second Circuit case law. I’ll go out on a limb here and say that there will be no World Championship match in NYC this Fall. I don’t think Agon is going to want to subject itself to jurisdiction in a real court system with counterclaims, potential enforceable damages and possible US Treasury examination of Agon’s relationship with Kirsan. This may also explain why they haven’t sued Pittsburg based ICC. The sites sued are in Germany and Bulgaria.
bloomberg.com/news/articles/ … e-outraged
Dylan McClain replied publicly to the comment in my lead post which I put on my Facebook page. Our public conversation is thus:
McClain: Um, Brian, there are a couple reasons that Agon is suing in Russia, but they have nothing to do with concerns about trying to prove the case in the Second Circuit or any other jurisdiction. (A major reason was that the Candidates was held in Moscow. But reciprocity agreements between the courts insure that cases heard in one jurisdiction apply in others. That is one reason that the courts in the US could charge FIFA officials who were in other countries.) As for the World Championship, it will be in New York and I’ll be there running the editorial side of things. Not sure why you would doubt that. And, no, Agon is not part of FIDE. I even bought the incorporation documents and shareholder information to verify that myself. They are available online for a fee if you are interested.
Lafferty: Forgive me for being blunt, Dylan, but you’re now blowing Agon’s smoke. I can understand you’re becoming the Editor of the site you’ve hooked up with, but you’ve been acting as a PR person lately much more than an independent editor or reporter. Your “reciprocity” line is BS as any lawyer worth his salt can tell you. International law and practice wasn’t invented yesterday. The mechanisms for enforcing decisions across international borders has a long history. Commencing their action in Moscow with it’s less than reputable judicial system (the conviction of the Ukrainian pilot ring a bell, Dylan) was totally expected. Any decision in their favor from Moscow would have as much chance of surviving in the Second Circuit here as the proverbial snowball in Hell. From respected NY Times reporter and commentator with a Pulitzer in his pocket to flack for Agon and Kirsan’s boys is quite the fall from grace. Very sad…
McClain: Well, Brian we disagree. Good luck.
Lafferty: Good luck to you. What you came out of the Times with, integrity, is quite valuable. The folks you’ve hooked up with are likely using that to make themselves appear to have the integrity they lack. BTW, how is Kirsan getting along having the sanctions against him lifted? I also never said that Agon was part of FIDE. Did the corporate documents tell you who all the parties are with ownership interests, or just the initial incorporators?
Recent analysis.
lexology.com/library/detail. … d214cedf60