( September 18, 2026, 2:04 PM EDT) -- HONOLULU — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Sept. 17 reversed in part a federal judge’s dismissal of a petition filed by the government of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) to enforce three arbitral awards worth more than $4.5 million for a casino dispute against an investor and his financing company, which it alleged are alter egos of the award-debtors, ruling that the lower court should have evaluated Lao PDR’s alter-ego arguments first before granting dismissal....