Sheldon G. Adelson v. Moshe Hananel

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Before Boudin and Howard, Circuit Judges and Barbadoro, *fn1 District Judge.

Appellee Sheldon Adelson brought this declaratory action to determine rights under an oral contract that he had negotiated with appellant Moshe Hananel. In the district court Hananel argued that the agreement, pursuant to which he was employed by a company owned by Adelson, entitled him to obtain a twelve percent investment in Adelson’s casino venture in Macau. Adelson claimed that their agreement was not so broad as to contemplate the Macau investment option. Rather, the contract limited Hananel to reaping twelve percent of net profits from high-tech sector investments in Israel that had been discovered, recommended and supervised by Hananel, and that were realized while he was employed by Adelson’s company.

In a prior appeal of this matter, Adelson v. Hananel, 510 F.3d 43 (1st Cir. 2007) (“Adelson I”), we reversed the district court’s forum non conveniens dismissal, but we did uphold the court’s determination that, under the prima facie standard, Hananel was subject to specific personal jurisdiction. After a three-week bench trial on remand, the district court ruled in favor of Adelson, declaring that Hananel did not hold an option to obtain a twelve percent interest in Adelson’s Macau casino. Adelson v. Hananel, 641 F.Supp.2d 65 (D. Mass. 2009) (“Adelson II”). Hananel appeals from this judgment, arguing that the district court lacked personal jurisdiction, erroneously assigned to him the burden of proof, abused its discretion regarding a missing witness, and made factual errors regarding the formation and performance of the contract. We affirm.

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