Calderon

The Dow Chemical Company, Shell Oil Company, and Shell Chemical Company (“the Companies”) sued more than a thousand Nicaraguan citizens (“the Nicaraguans”) in federal district court in California. The Companies seek a declaration that (1) they are not liable for any injuries to the Nicaraguans caused by dibromo-chloropropane, a toxic pesticide commonly known as “DBCP”; and (2) any judgments of Nicaraguan courts to the contrary are not enforceable in this country. The question before us is whether the Nicaraguans consented to personal jurisdiction by either (1) choosing to file suit in Nicaragua under a Nicaraguan law that requires American companies to deposit a specified sum or submit unconditionally to the jurisdiction of U.S. courts; or (2) defending on the merits a declaratory judgment action brought by a different company in the same federal district court concerning the same set of underlying Nicaraguan judgments. The district court rejected both of these contentions. Agreeing with the district court, we hold that the Nicaraguan defendants did not consent to personal jurisdiction in this action.

I. FACTUAL AND LEGAL BACKGROUND

The underlying disputes in this case concern…