Kathryn Grace (Partner-Charlotte, NC) and Nicole Melvani (Of Counsel-McLean, VA) prevailed in a seminal case before the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, obtaining an Order affirming the grant of summary judgment in favor of a private jet charter company. The Court agreed with Kathryn and Nicole that the Montreal Convention, an international treaty that governs the international carriage of cargo by air, preempted the plaintiffs’ state law claims. The plaintiffs contracted with our client to transport passengers and cargo from Oregon to Switzerland. At a refueling stop in North Carolina, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents seized and ultimately destroyed the cargo on the grounds that it contained illegal marijuana. The plaintiffs contended that the product being transported was legal hemp and was wrongfully detained and destroyed by the government. The plaintiffs alleged that the charter company’s failure to submit proper customs paperwork resulted in the cargo’s detention and destruction, asserting causes of action for negligence, gross negligence, negligent misrepresentation, breach of fiduciary duty, and unfair and deceptive trade practices. The Fourth Circuit agreed with our argument, finding all of the plaintiffs’ claims fell within the preemptive scope of the Montreal Convention’s provisions and rejecting the plaintiffs’ various attempts to characterize the claims as outside of the Convention’s scope. The Fourth Circuit’s decision will have a significant impact on claims involving international transport.