Theodore Folkman

Ted Folkman, Partner in Rubin and Rudman’s Litigation Department, has over twenty years of experience guiding individuals and corporations through negotiations, litigation, trials, and appeals. Ted regularly handles complex business, commercial, and other civil cases, with a special focus on cross-border issues, international judicial assistance, and private international law. He has argued cases at all levels of the Massachusetts courts and in US courts of appeals and appears in federal courts around the country. He often assists foreign lawyers and their clients by obtaining evidence in the United States needed to win their cases abroad, and US lawyers and their clients by helping to obtain evidence abroad needed to win their US cases. An honors graduate of Harvard Law School and an elected member of the American Law Institute, Ted is also a member of the national commercial and consumer panels of arbitrators of the American Arbitration Association and acts both as a neutral and as an advocate in domestic arbitrations. Ted also frequently speaks and writes about private international law topics and is the author of International Judicial Assistance: Serving Process, Obtaining Evidence, Enforcing Judgments and Awards and of Letters Blogatory, a blog recognized by the ABA as one of the best on the web. Ted is an active member of the Boston Bar Association and is the immediate past co-chair of the BBA’s International Law Section.

Representative Experience

• Warren v. Children’s Hosp. Corp., 652 F. Supp. 3d 135 (D. Mass. 2023).
• Chiejina v. Federal Republic of Nigeria (D.D.C. 2022).
• Merlini v. Canada, 926 F.3d 21 (1st Cir.), petition for rehearing en banc denied, 940 F.3d 801 (1st Cir. 2019), cert. denied, 140 S. Ct. 2804 (2020).
• Sadis & Goldberg LLP v. Banerjee, 715 Fed. App’x 99 (2d Cir. 2018)
• St. Louis v. Perlitz, 176 F. Supp. 3d 97 (D. Conn. 2016)
• Jean-Charles v. Perlitz, 937 F. Supp. 2d 276 (D. Conn. 2013)
• Rawan v. Massad, 80 Mass. App. Ct. 826 (2011)
• Children’s Hosp. Corp. v. George Wash. Univ., 750 F. Supp. 2d 239 (D. Mass. 2010)
• Bradston Associates v. Cabral, 70 Mass. App. Ct. 822 (2007)
• Children’s Hosp. Corp. v. Kindercare Learning Centers, 360 F. Supp. 2d 202 (D. Mass. 2005)

Recognition and Awards

• Rated “AV Preeminent” by Martindale Hubbell, 2021
• Boston Bar Association President’s Award, 2016
• Selected, Massachusetts Rising Stars List, 2006, 2007, 2013
• Editor, Harvard Journal on Legislation, 1998-2000
• Named, Boston magazine, Top Lawyers, Commercial Litigation, 2023

Professional and Community Involvement

• Member, American Law Institute.
• Immediate past Co-chair, Boston Bar Association, International Law Section
• Past Member, Boston Bar Association, Amicus Committee
• Past chair, Boston Bar Association, Massachusetts Practice and Procedure committee
• Member, International Bar Association
• Trustee, Congregation Kehillath Israel
• Leadership Board member, American Jewish Committee (New England)

Publications and Speaking Engagements

• Quoted, “Nigeria Tells DC Circ. It Has Immunity In $2.9M Award Fight,” Law360, LexisNexis (February 10, 2023)
• Invited Speaker, Workers’ Injury Law & Advocacy Group Annual Conference, Workers’ Injury Law & Advocacy Group (2022)
• Invited Speaker, “ZF Automotive v. Luxshare,” Deutschen Institution für Schiedsgerichtsbarkeit (2022)
• Invited Speaker, Rethinking the Service of Documents in Cross-Border Transactions, International Law Association American Branch (2021)
• Invited Speaker, “service of process,” Georgetown University Law Center (2021)
• “Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments and Arbitral Awards,” Federal Civil Litigation in the First Circuit (2021)
• “Choice of Law, in Arbitration of International Intellectual Property Disputes”
• Invited Speaker, “ Service of Process and Taking of Evidence Abroad in the Era of Digitalization – European and Global Perspectives,” European Association of Private International Law (2021)
• Invited Speaker, “Ten Things to Know about International Arbitration,” Boston Bar Association (2021)
• Invited Speaker, “The Impact of COVID-19 on Civil Litigation,” Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education (2020)
• “Monster Energy v. City Beverages—Ninth Circuit’s New Disclosure Rules for Owner-Neutral ,” ABA Section of Litigation Practice Points (Jan 2, 2020)
• “U.S. v. Assa Co. Ltd,” International Legal Materials vol. 59, no. 2 (2020)
• Invited Speaker, “Foreign Sovereign Immunity and Locally Employed Staff: The Massachusetts Example,” Boston Bar Association (2020)
• Invited Speaker, “ HCCH a|Bridged,” Hague Conference on Private International Law (2019)
• Co-author, “Arbitration of Intellectual Property Disputes in the United States” (2018)
• Invited Speaker, “Law’s Porosities,” American Society of Comparative Law and Société de législation compare (2017)
• “International Litigation,” The Year in Review (2017)
• “Service of Process,” International Aspects of US Litigation (2017)
• Invited Speaker, “International Issues in Litigation and Arbitration,” Massachusetts Bar Association (2017)
• Guest Lecturer, “Judgment Arbitrage,” University of Pittsburgh School of Law (2017)
• Author, “International Judicial Assistance: Serving Process, Obtaining Evidence, Enforcing Judgments and Awards,” MCLE 2nd Edition, MCLE (2016)
• Invited Speaker, “Effects of the Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements on International Arbitration,” Georgetown International Arbitration Month (2016)
• Co-Author, “Memorandum of the American Bar Association Section of International Law Working Group,” Implementation of the Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements (2016)
• Invited Speaker, Service of Process and Taking of Evidence Abroad: The Impact of 'Electronic Means' On The Operation of the Hague Conventions, Georgetown University Law Center (2015)
• Guest lecturer, “28 U.S.C. § 1782,” McGill University Faculty of Law (2015)
• Co-author, The US Judicial Assistance Statute: A Powerful Tool in International Arbitration? (2014)
• Non-Governmental Delegate to the Hague Conference Special Commission on the Operation of the Service, Evidence, and Access to Justice Conventions, The Hague (2014)
• Guest Lecturer, Hague Service Convention, Georgetown University Law Center (2013)
• Guest Lecturer on 28 U.S.C. § 1782, Florida International University School of Law (2013)
• Invited speaker, “Mass Torts in a Shrinking World,” University of Pennsylvania Law School (2012)
• “Choice of Law, in Arbitration of International Intellectual Property Disputes” (2012)
• Invited speaker, Civil Deposition Practice, MCLE (2012)
• Invited Speaker, “Playing Three-Dimensional Chess: Choice of Law in International IP Arbitration,” BBA (2011)
• “Letters Blogatory,” (2011-present)
• Co-author, “Using US Pretrial Discovery to Your Advantage,” Commercial Dispute Resolution (Dec 14,2010)
• “Choice of Forum when Seeking Prejudgment Injunctive Relief,” Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly (2010)