Ronald R. Pope and Serendipity: Russian Consulting & Development, Ltd. v. The Chronicle Publishing Company, D/B/A "The Pantagraph,"

DIANE P. WOOD, Circuit Judge.

With the best of intentions, Ronald Pope embarked on a mission to assist the former Soviet Union in its difficult transition from a planned economy to a market economy. He formed a corporation, Serendipity: Russian Consulting & Development, Ltd. (“Serendipity”), that would, through a combination of philanthropy and old-fashioned Yankee en-trepreneurialism, begin these efforts with the construction of the “First American Home in Russia.” The house was built (complete, we are interested to see, with two-car garage, three bedrooms, two baths, and a patio with…