No. 25-283

Seaboard Marine Ltd. v. Odette Blanco De Fernandez, aka Blanco Rosell

Lower Court: Eleventh Circuit
Docketed: 2025-09-11
Status: Pending
Type: Paid
Amici (1)Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2) Experienced Counsel
Tags: corporate-law cuba-sanctions helms-burton-act property-confiscation shareholder-rights trafficking-definition
Key Terms:
Takings
Latest Conference: 2026-02-20 (distributed 2 times)
Question Presented (AI Summary)

Does the Helms-Burton Act abrogate basic corporate law and permit shareholders to maintain Title III actions based on confiscated corporate property the shareholders never personally owned?

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

Title III of the Helms-Burton Act creates a right of action against businesses that traffic in property confiscated by the Cuban government. See 22 U.S.C. §§ 6023, 6082. In the decision below, the Eleventh Circuit stretched the Act’s text beyond its breaking point: the court of appeals held that shipping companies that, in accordance with federal regulations, lawfully carry agricultural commodities from the U.S. to Cuba could be traffickers, each of whom owes Respondent personally hundreds of millions of dollars, based on her theory that Cuba’s principal container terminal partially extends onto land once owned by a Cuban corporation in which she claims to be the lone surviving shareholder. The questions presented are: 1. Does the Helms-Burton Act abrograte basic corporate law and permit shareholders to maintain Title III actions based on confiscated corporate property the shareholders never personally owned? 2. Does delivering cargo to a facility partially constructed atop confiscated land qualify as trafficking in confiscated property under the Act? 3. Do companies that lawfully carry agricultural commodities from the U.S. to Cuba engage in lawful travel under the Act?

Docket Entries

2026-02-04
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 2/20/2026.
2026-01-15
Brief of Odette Blanco De Fernandez, et al. in opposition submitted.
2026-01-15
Brief of respondent Odette Blanco De Fernandez in opposition filed.
2025-11-24
Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including January 15, 2026.
2025-11-20
Motion of Odette Blanco De Fernandez, et al. for an extension of time submitted.
2025-11-20
Motion to extend the time to file a response from December 1, 2025 to January 15, 2026, submitted to The Clerk.
2025-10-30
Response Requested. (Due December 1, 2025)
2025-10-22
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 11/7/2025.
2025-10-14
Amicus brief of Crowley Latin America Services, LLC, Crowley Maritime Corporation, Crowley Liner Services, Inc., Crowley Logistics, Inc., and Crowley Holdings, Inc. submitted.
2025-10-14
Brief amici curiae of Crowley Latin America Services, LLC, et al. filed.
2025-10-13
Waiver of Odette Blanco De Fernandez, et al. of right to respond submitted.
2025-10-13
Waiver of right of respondent Odette Blanco De Fernandez, et al. to respond filed.
2025-09-08
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due October 14, 2025)

Attorneys

Crowley Latin America Services, LLC, Crowley Maritime Corporation, Crowley Liner Services, Inc., Crowley Logistics, Inc., and Crowley Holdings, Inc.
Megan BarberoVenable LLP, Amicus
Megan BarberoVenable LLP, Amicus
Odette Blanco De Fernandez, et al.
Eugene Alexis SokoloffMoloLamken LLP, Respondent
Eugene Alexis SokoloffMoloLamken LLP, Respondent
Seaboard Marine Ltd.
Bryan Michael KillianMorgan, Lewis & Bockius, LLP, Petitioner
Bryan Michael KillianMorgan, Lewis & Bockius, LLP, Petitioner