A Davis Polk team led by partner and Supreme Court & Appellate practice head Kannon Shanmugam received runner-up honors in AmLaw Litigation Daily’s “Litigator of the Week” column for securing a decisive victory for client Cisco Systems, Inc. before the Supreme Court of the United States. Kannon argued for Cisco in his first week at Davis Polk.

The plaintiffs claimed that Cisco and two of its executives aided and abetted a range of international-law violations in violation of the ATS and the TVPA. The district court dismissed the complaint, but the Ninth Circuit reversed, holding that aiding-and-abetting liability was available under both statutes.

The column noted, “The decision, which reversed a Ninth Circuit decision allowing claims to move forward under the Alien Tort Statute and Torture Victim Protection Act, held that courts may not create new rights of action to remedy violations of international law under the ATS. The majority further held that neither the ATS nor the TVPA allows for aiding-and-abetting claims.”

The decision is a significant win for corporate defendants, foreclosing an entire category of potential litigation and providing clarity that no additional liability may be fashioned under the ATS going forward.

The Davis Polk team included partners Kannon Shanmugam and Masha Hansford and associates Jake Kramer and Candice Yandam Riviere.

“Litigator of the Week Runners-Up and Shout-Outs,” AmLaw Litigation Daily (June 26, 2026) (subscription required)

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