Jones Walker attorney M. Richard Schroeder was recently invited to deliver a speech at the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration Inc.'s Annual Meeting & Exhibit in Salt Lake City, Utah. Mr. Schroeder spoke February 26, 2008, in a seminar titled "Operating in challenging overseas environments: Understanding and avoiding the risk of being sued in the United States under the Alien Tort Statute and other domestic laws as a result of alleged environmental, social and human rights violations."
Highlights of the seminar session included:

• A review of past and current litigation in the United States stemming primarily from overseas operations of natural resource companies and involving alleged violations of domestic and international laws related to environmental, social, and human rights issues; 
• an analysis of litigation in the United States under the Alien Tort Statute, including a review of several important pending cases, and a discussion of how the resulting case law relates to current overseas mining activities; and
• the practical steps companies can take to avoid these risks, and to be in a better position to defend these types of claims if necessary.

For more information on the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration, Inc., please visit http://www.smenet.org.