DocketNumber： 89-3000
Judges： Heaney, Lay, Timbers
Filed Date： 8/13/1991
Status： Precedential
Modified Date： 11/4/2024
In reversing the district court today, the majority has found a United States forum for an American citizen. While the majority has fashioned a creative argument to achieve this result, I regret that I am unable to concur in its opinion. Since the majority merely substitutes its opinion for that of the district court and misconstrues the law of forum non conveniens in so doing, I respectfully dissent.
I.
I turn first to the standard of review applied by the majority in reversing the district court. While the majority sets forth the standard a reviewing court applies to a district court’s dismissal of an action based on forum non conveniens, it unnecessarily avoids meeting squarely the degree of deference accorded such determi
II.
I turn next to the majority’s contention that the Hansens failed to carry their burden of persuasion. I disagree. The Supreme Court specifically has explained that submission of detailed affidavits is not necessary on forum non conveniens motions. Piper Aircraft, supra, 454 U.S. at 258; see also Fitzgerald v. Texaco, Inc., 521 F.2d 448, 451 n. 3 (2d Cir.1975), cert. denied, 423 U.S. 1052 (1976); Farmanfarmaian v. Gulf Oil Corp., 437 F.Supp. 910, 923-24 & n. 15 (S.D.N.Y.1977), aff'd, 588 F.2d 880 (2d Cir.1978). It is sufficient that the district court has adequate information to “balance the parties’ interests”. Piper Aircraft, supra, 454 U.S. at 258.
In the instant case, the relevant facts were not controverted. The defendants Leroy and Irene Hansen owned a hotel named the Yellowbird Sea-Tel in Jamaica. The plaintiffs, Jayne Reid-Walen and Gary Walen, vacationed at the Hansens’ hotel. While swimming in the surf either directly adjacent to the hotel or somewhere nearby, Jayne Reid-Walen was struck by a motorboat operated by a Jamaican resident. In short, the district court had sufficient facts and information to determine whether this action for ordinary negligence, whose underlying predicate occurred in Jamaica, should be tried in the Eastern District of Missouri. I shall address specifically each instance of alleged inadequacy of factual proof in the context of the majority’s analysis of the Gilbert factors.
III.
This brings me to the majority’s review of the district court’s analysis of the public and private interest factors. I examine these factors in the light of the substantial deference normally accorded the district court’s initial determination.
In Gulf Oil Corp. v. Gilbert, 330 U.S. 501, 508-09 (1947), Justice Jackson fashioned the oft-quoted contemporary forum non conveniens analysis by enumerating numerous nonexclusive factors, both public and private, which a district court should consider when confronted with a motion to dismiss based on forum non conveniens:
“An interest to be considered, and the one likely to be most pressed, is the private interest of the litigant. Important considerations are the relative ease*1403 of access to sources of proof; availability of compulsory process for attendance of unwilling, and the cost of obtaining attendance of willing, witnesses; possibility of view of premises, if view would be appropriate to the action; and all other practical problems that make trial of a case easy, expeditious and inexpensive. There may also be questions as to the enforceability of a judgment if one is obtained. The court will weigh relative advantages and obstacles to fair trial. It is often said that the plaintiff may not, by choice of an inconvenient forum, ‘vex,’ ‘harass,’ or ‘oppress’ the defendant by inflicting upon him expense or trouble not necessary to his own right to pursue his remedy. But unless the balance is strongly in favor of the defendant, the plaintiff’s choice of forum should rarely be disturbed.
Factors of public interest also have place in applying the doctrine. Administrative difficulties follow for courts when litigation is piled up in congested centers instead of being handled at its origin. Jury duty is a burden that ought not to be imposed upon the people of a community which has no relation to the litigation. In cases which touch the affairs of many persons, there is reason for holding the trial in their view and reach rather than in remote parts of the country where they can learn of it by report only. There is a local interest in having localized controversies decided at home. There is an appropriateness, too, in having the trial of a diversity case in a forum that is at home with the state law that must govern the case, rather than having a court in some other forum untangle problems in conflict of laws, and in law foreign to itself.”
These factors continue to govern all cases. Piper Aircraft, supra, 454 U.S. at 241 n. 6. Although the enumerated factors in Gilbert are not exhaustive, they have long provided courts with guidance when considering motions to dismiss based on forum non conveniens.
In what strikes me as an inappropriate and improper de novo review of the district court’s application of the Gilbert factors, the majority supplants the district court’s analysis of most factors with its own. In light of the Supreme Court’s holding in Piper Aircraft, such usurpation of the district court’s role is improper. Moreover, some of the propositions advanced by the majority lack either a factual or legal basis.
Private Interest Factors
A. Plaintiffs Choice of Forum
The majority first asserts that the district court accorded little weight to the plaintiff’s choice of forum and to the citizenship of the parties. In so concluding, the majority misses the tenor of the district court’s opinion. The district court expressly considered those factors and indeed stated that a plaintiff’s choice of forum is entitled to “preference”. The district court, however, found that numerous factors outweighed the plaintiff’s choice of forum and favored Jamaica as the proper forum. In concluding that Jamaica was the most convenient forum, the district court rejected the “talismanic significance” attached by the majority to the plaintiff’s choice of forum. The district court’s conclusion is in accord with the recent trend of authority which has rejected attaching dis-positive weight to the plaintiff’s choice of forum. E.g., Pain v. United Technologies Corp., 637 F.2d 775, 798 (D.C.Cir.1980), cert. denied, 454 U.S. 1128 (1981); Alcoa Steamship Co. v. M/V Nordic Regent, 654 F.2d 147, 155-57 (2d Cir.) (en banc), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 890 (1980); Mizokami Bros., Inc. v. Baychem Corp., 556 F.2d 975 (9th Cir.1977) (per curiam), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 1035 (1978); Mohr v. Allen, 407 F.Supp. 483 (S.D.N.Y.1976). It has been recognized that American courts’ continuing refusal to dismiss when events so warrant is based on our paternalistic attitude toward United States citizens and our condescending view of foreign courts. This problem has been succinctly summarized by Judge Wilkey:
“[fjederal courts have recently begun to acknowledge that judicial unwillingness to dismiss actions to competent courts abroad on grounds of citizenship alone may merely reflect an unthinking*1404 orientation overly protective of American plaintiffs — even those who reside abroad — and ‘insufficiently sensitive to the ability of foreign courts to perform their adjudicatory functions fully as well as do the courts of the United States.’ ”
Pain, supra, 637 F.2d at 796-97 (quoting Note, Recent Developments, Federal Courts: Forum Non Conveniens, 20 Harv.Int’l L.J. 404, 412 (1979)).
It also has been questioned increasingly, in circumstances mirroring those before us, whether deference should be accorded to a plaintiff’s choice of forum at all. Pain, supra, 637 F.2d at 799; see also McAllen, Deference to the Plaintiff in Forum Non Conveniens, 13 S.Ill.L.J. 191, 259 (1989) (“[international forum non conveniens dismissals ought to be freely available when either the defendant or the cause of action is local, the case is governed by foreign law, and the alternate forum is a more convenient place for trial. In this rare class of cases, there is no practical or theoretical justification for deferring to the plaintiff's initial choice of forum.”) [hereinafter McAllen], Perhaps the best justification for deference to the plaintiff’s choice of forum exists where the plaintiff’s choice of forum is his “home forum”, i.e., the forum in which he resides. McAllen, supra, at 212. (The majority’s suggestion that a plaintiff’s “home forum” is any district in the United States is not supported by any credible reading of Gilbert or its companion case, Foster v. Lumbermens Mut. Casualty Co., 330 U.S. 518, 524 (1947)). It is in that situation that chances of vexation, harassment or oppression alluded to by Justice Jackson in Gilbert, are at a minimum. McAllen, supra, at 212-13 & n. 89. Applying that principle here, there would be little reason to defer to the plaintiff’s choice of forum. Missouri is neither the plaintiffs’ “home forum” nor chosen forum.
In any event, “[a] citizen’s forum choice should not be given dispositive weight”. Piper Aircraft, supra, 454 U.S. at 255-56 n. 23; see also Pain, supra, 637 F.2d at 798 (“American citizens and residents have no indefeasible right of access to the federal courts”); Vanity Fair Mills v. T. Eaton Co., 234 F.2d 633, 645 (2d Cir.) (same), cert. denied, 352 U.S. 871 (1956). “As always, if the balance of conveniences suggests that trial in the chosen forum would be unnecessarily burdensome for the defendant or the court, dismissal is proper.” Piper Aircraft, supra, 454 U.S. at 255-56 n. 23. The Supreme Court has made clear that the “deference accorded a plaintiff’s choice of forum has never been intended to guarantee that the plaintiff will be able to select the law that will govern the case.” Id. at 256-57 n. 24.
Since the district court here found that “numerous” factors favored Jamaica as the appropriate forum, it was proper that plaintiffs’ choice of forum not be given disposi-tive weight. That the plaintiffs’ choice of forum was actually the Southern District of Florida and not the Eastern District of Missouri merely buttresses this conclusion. If appellants are concerned with convenience, it seems that Jamaica is closer geographically to their initial choice of forum.
B. Location of Key Witnesses
The majority next takes issue with the district court’s conclusion that all occurrence witnesses except the plaintiffs are located in Jamaica. It asserts that the defendants have not carried their burden of proving that most witnesses are located in Jamaica. By this assertion, the majority would saddle a moving party with a greater burden than envisioned by the Supreme Court.
It is firmly established that defendants must only “provide enough information to enable the District Court to balance the parties’ interests.” Piper Aircraft, supra, 454 U.S. at 258. Indeed, the contention that affidavits of great detail were required to support a motion to dismiss based on forum non conveniens was specifically rejected by the Court. Id. Similarly, in Fitzgerald, supra, 521 F.2d at 451 n. 3, the court held that it was not an abuse of discretion “in failing to require detailed disclosure by the defendants of the names of their proposed witnesses and the substance of their testimony.” See also Far
The Hansens asserted in their moving papers that all occurrence witnesses were located in Jamaica. This assertion was not controverted in Reid-Walen’s opposition papers. Nor was it disputed in Reid-Walen’s brief on appeal. Information concerning the identity of the driver of the boat, the investigating authorities, and witnesses to the accident, while presumably known to Reid-Walen, apparently was not available to the Hansens even up to the date of oral argument. At this stage of the litigation, where little if any discovery has been taken, it would “defeat the purpose of the[] motion” to require the moving party to submit affidavits detailing the exact witnesses to be called. Piper Aircraft, supra, 454 U.S. at 258.
Faced with seemingly uncontroverted facts in the context of a boating accident occurring in Jamaican waters, it was reasonable for the district court to have concluded that all occurrence witnesses were in fact located in Jamaica and that it would be “prohibitively expensive” to procure their attendance in Missouri. Contrary to the majority’s assertion, there is nothing in the district court record that supports appellants’ contention, first advanced at oral argument, that some occurrence witnesses reside in the United States. (The majority seized on a surmise advanced by appellants’ counsel which was never before the district court. Counsel speculated that since many persons who stayed at Yellow-bird were citizens of the United States or Canada, many witnesses to the accident also would reside in the United States.)
What the record does show, however, is that a Jamaican resident in fact caused the accident and is arguably one of the most important witnesses in this action. While the majority attempts to lessen the impact of this significant fact by asserting that it is unclear whether the driver was ever identified, it is abundantly clear that he will not be found in the Eastern District of Missouri. On the other hand, the district court did find that Reid-Walen’s hospitalization occurred in the United States. In recognizing this fact, the court implicitly acknowledged that most evidence and witnesses relating to damages are located in the United States.
That the district court ultimately accorded greater weight to occurrence witnesses in a negligence action is not unreasonable. Gates Learjet Corp. v. Jensen, 743 F.2d 1325, 1335-36 (9th Cir.1984) (in examining this private interest factor, it is appropriate to examine the materiality and importance of the anticipated witnesses’ testimony), cert. denied, 471 U.S. 1066 (1985). The court properly concluded that all occurrence witnesses — those witnesses in the best position to enlighten a court concerning the negligence determination — were in Jamaica. “[T]o fix the place of trial at a point where litigants cannot compel personal attendance [of significant witnesses] and may be forced to try their cases on deposition, is to create a condition not satisfactory to court, jury or most litigants.” Gilbert, supra, 330 U.S. at 511. For these reasons, the district court’s conclusion that the location of witnesses favored Jamaica was reasonable.
C. Access to Evidence/View of Premises
Considering next a factor closely intertwined with the location of key witnesses, I address the majority’s assertion that the district court erred in finding that access to evidence and a view of the premises favored Jamaica as the forum. The majority concludes that evidence located in Jamaica could be brought to the United States for trial. Although either side arguably could transport evidence to the other’s forum, the majority’s thesis does not render unreasonable the district court’s conclusion that the bulk of the evidence relevant to the liability element of this negligence action is located in Jamaica. The Supreme Court recently stated, “[t]o examine ‘the relative ease of access to sources of proof,’ and the
For the purposes of this discussion, I recognize that Jamaican law is descended from the law of Great Britain. 1 Reynolds & Flores, Foreign Law, I Jamaica 1, 2-3 (1989) (“English legal heritage molds and still directs the Jamaican legal system”). I also take as true the majority’s characterization of Jamaican law as substantively “akin to our own”. See generally Geldart, Introduction to English Law 128-31 (9th ed.1984) (although notions of gross and slight negligence are not recognized under the English legal system, a duty of care is owed under the Occupiers’ Liability Act and contributory negligence is recognized pursuant to statute). The instant action is one for negligence based on Jamaican common and statutory law. It arises from an accident which occurred in Jamaica and in fact was caused by a Jamaican citizen.
To the extent that a view of the premises would aid in the trial of any case, it certainly would be appropriate here. At issue is whether Reid-Walen was swimming in water adjacent to Yellowbird or perhaps elsewhere; the precautions taken by the Han-sens in ensuring a safe swimming environment; and whether the accident occurred in the area provided for passage of boats under Section 10 of the Beach Control Act.
Another significant issue is what safety measures are reasonable under the Occupiers’ Liability Act. According to the plaintiffs’ amended complaint, this Jamaican statute requires that the Hansens take “such care as in all circumstances of the case is reasonable to see that Plaintiffs were reasonably safe in using the premises for the purposes for which they were intended or permitted by the occupier....” To determine what standard of care is reasonable under both this statute and common law, I assume that testimony of other Jamaican hotel operators and residents is necessary. Cf. Williams v. Employers Liability Assur. Corp., 296 F.2d 569, 574 (5th Cir.1961) (plaintiff seeking damages for violation of duty to furnish safe premises for invitees carries burden of proof as in an ordinary negligence action), cert. denied, 371 U.S. 844 (1962). Furthermore, the question of whether “motorboats are frequently driven through the swimming area behind the Yellowbird”, as alleged by plaintiffs, would require testimony from local residents. Evidence of other boating accidents in close proximity to the Yellow-bird also would be relevant to this action. Cf. Kanelos v. Kettler, 406 F.2d 951 (D.C. Cir.1968) (evidence of other accidents is admissible for its tendency to show a dangerous condition at location where accident at issue occurred). Finally, to the extent that there was any investigation of the incident, those records and the investigating authorities certainly would be located in Jamaica. On the other side of the equation, Reid-Walen’s medical witnesses and other documentary evidence, which are located in Florida and Minnesota, would have to travel a significant distance whether the action was in Missouri or Jamaica. Thus, it is not clear to me that Missouri is any more convenient than Jamaica in terms of providing ease of access to sources of proof relating to damages.
In negligence actions such as the instant one, courts have held consistently that trial in the foreign forum would present fewer evidentiary problems. In Piper Aircraft, several persons were killed when an airplane crashed in Scotland during a chartered flight. The decedents’ heirs commenced a wrongful death action in the United States against a Pennsylvania plane manufacturer and an Ohio propeller manufacturer. In dismissing the action on forum non conveniens grounds, the district court found that, although records concerning design, manufacture and testing of the plane and propeller were located in the United States, more significant evidence including witnesses who could testify about the maintenance of the plane, the training of the pilot, and the investigation of the accident were all located in Scotland. 454 U.S. at 242. The district court also con-
I fail to see a valid distinction between those cases and the one before us. Since this simple negligence action requires proof indigenous to Jamaica, the district court reasonably concluded that this factor favored Jamaica as the proper forum.
D. Impleader
This brings me to the majority’s treatment of the impleader issue. While the majority acknowledges that the ability to implead a third-party can be considered a private interest factor, it then concludes that the Hansens can pursue a separate indemnification action against the boat driver in the courts of Jamaica. The majority dismisses the burden of litigating in two forums as “perhaps more inconvenient”.
The Supreme Court specifically rejected this logic in Piper Aircraft. There, the Court determined that if the defendants (manufacturers) could show that the third-party defendant (the pilot of the crashed plane) was negligent, the defendants would be relieved of liability. Piper Aircraft, supra, 454 U.S. at 259. The Court agreed that relegating the defendants to a separate action for indemnity would be “burdensome” and far less convenient. Id. “Finding that trial in the plaintiff’s chosen forum would be burdensome”, the Court held, “is sufficient to support dismissal on grounds of forum non conveniens.” Id.; see also Dahl, supra, 632 F.2d at 1031 (“ ‘inability to implead other parties directly involved in the controversy is a factor which weighs against the retention of jurisdiction’ ” (quoting Fitzgerald, supra, 521 F.2d at 453)).
Similarly, in the instant action, if the Hansens can prove that the operator of the boat was the proximate cause of Reid-Walen’s injuries, they could be relieved of liability. Piper Aircraft, supra, 454 U.S. at 259; see generally Prosser and Keaton, Torts, 263-319 (5th ed. 1984). Joinder of the boat operator therefore would be crucial to the Hansens’ defense. Id. To suggest, as the majority does, that the third-party claim against the Jamaican boat operator presents an independent question is not supported by a reading of the record and relevant authorities. Both claims arose from the same occurrence. In that situation, the question of what liability is attributable to each party ordinarily should be resolved in one action. E.g., Ford Motor Co. v. Milby, 210 F.2d 137, 139 (4th Cir.1954) (“only very unusual circumstances would justify the court in denying the joinder of one whose negligence is alleged to be the basis of liability of the defendant named”). Trying two separate actions here would involve duplication of evidence, possibility of inconsistent verdicts, and a sharp increase in expenses. Contrary to the majority’s conclusion, trying two separate eases would increase the Hansens’ burden sufficiently to support dismissal on grounds of forum non conve-niens. Piper Aircraft, supra, 454 U.S. at 259.
E. Other Practical Problems
I turn next to the majority’s enumeration of other “practical problems” that make trial of the case in Missouri “easy, expeditious, and inexpensive”. The majority asserts that the district court erred in not considering Jamaica’s lack of jury trials and contingent fee system as factors favoring Missouri as the proper forum. This assertion is based in part on Reid-Walen’s contention at oral argument that it would
In elevating the advantages of our American system of justice to a Gilbert factor apart from the deference normally accorded plaintiffs choice of forum, the majority in effect is saying that a United States’ citizen-plaintiff will rarely, if ever, have to travel abroad to litigate a claim. I agree that our system of justice is unparalleled in the advantages it offers plaintiffs. Contingent fees, jury trials, increased damage awards, expanded scope of discovery, and substantive law favorable to plaintiffs (strict products liability and punitive damages) are attributes that seldom are found in foreign fora. Piper Aircraft, supra, 454 U.S. at 252 n. 18; Note, Foreign Plaintiffs and Forum Non Conveniens: Going Beyond Reyno, 64 Tex.L.Rev. 193, 196-204 (1985). What troubles me is that the majority attaches “particular significance” to the district court’s failure to consider this factor separately. Examining the majority opinion as a whole, this putative omission appears to be its chief point of disagreement with the district court’s opinion.
Since these factors bear little relation to convenience, I question whether they should be accorded independent weight at all in the balancing of Gilbert factors. These factors are already given significant weight when we accord deference to a plaintiff’s choice of forum. See Piper Aircraft, supra, 454 U.S. at 256-57 n. 24. When a plaintiff chooses a forum, we must assume that it is the most attractive forum available to him. See id. It is redundant therefore to weigh significantly the procedural advantages of our system of justice again in the balancing of Gilbert factors.
Several courts appear to acknowledge this redundancy. In Macedo v. Boeing Co., 693 F.2d 683, 687-88 (7th Cir.1982), the court considered the procedural differences between Portuguese and American courts. It found that Portugal lacked jury trials, contingent fee arrangements, punitive damages, and sophisticated discovery procedures. Id. The court also stated that a plaintiff must make a substantial prepayment of costs in Portugal. Id. at 688. Nevertheless, the court held that the weight accorded these procedural disadvantages “should ordinarily not be conclusive or even substantial”. Id. Similarly, in Alcoa Steamship, citing a long line of authority, the court stated that “[i]t is abundantly clear ... that the prospect of a lesser recovery does not justify refusing to dismiss on the ground of forum non conveniens.” 654 F.2d at 159. Piper Aircraft also is instructive in this regard. Although Piper Aircraft held that a plaintiff may not defeat a motion to dismiss based on forum non conveniens merely by showing that the substantive law of the foreign forum is less favorable, its analysis is germane in the instant circumstances:
“[B]y holding that the central focus of the forum non conveniens inquiry is convenience, Gilbert implicitly recognized that dismissal may not be barred solely because of the possibility of an unfavorable change in law. Under Gilbert, dismissal will ordinarily be appropriate where trial in the plaintiff’s chosen forum imposes a heavy burden on the defendant or the court, and where the plaintiff is unable to offer any specific reasons of convenience supporting his choice. If substantial weight were given to the possibility of an unfavorable change in law, however, dismissal might be barred even where trial in the chosen forum was plainly inconvenient.”
Piper Aircraft, supra, 454 U.S. at 249 (footnotes omitted).
Finally, the concept of according significant weight to procedural advantages of our judicial system is one of dubious origin. Its genesis was this court’s opinion in Lehman v. Humphrey Cayman, Ltd., 713 F.2d 339, 346 (8th Cir.1983), cert. denied, 464 U.S. 1042 (1984). There, relying on Manu International, S.A. v. Avon Products, Inc., 641 F.2d 62, 67 (2d Cir.1981), we concluded that “[t]he court must be alert to the realities of the plaintiff’s position, financial and otherwise, and his or her ability as a practical matter to bring suit in the alternative forum.” Lehman, supra, 713 F.2d at 346. Manu International, however, addressed these considerations only
The majority’s reliance on Irish National Insurance Co. v. Aer Lingus Teoranta, 739 F.2d 90, 91 (2d Cir.1984), also strikes me as misplaced. In a footnote to the instant majority opinion, Aer Lingus is cited for the proposition that when a foreign jurisdiction “ ‘has imposed such severe monetary limitations on recovery as to eliminate the likelihood that the case will [ever] be tried,’ ... a court may justifiably take into account the realities of the foreign legal system.” By culling that proposition from a passing reference made by the court in Aer Lingus, the majority has misconstrued the holding in that case. Judge Van Graafeiland did lament about the “Kafkaesque quality” of the district court’s decision which resulted in dismissing a case to a foreign jurisdiction where recovery was limited to $260. Id. He did not take issue, however, with the district court’s adherence to Alcoa Steamship, 654 F.2d at 159, where an en banc panel of the Second Circuit concluded that the possibility of a lesser recovery would not preclude dismissal on the ground of forum non con-veniens. Id. Instead, the court held, in part, that the district court erred in failing to apply the same forum non conveniens standard to the appellant, a foreign insurance company, as it would have applied to a United States citizen. Id. at 92 (holding compelled by international treaty). Inasmuch as Judge Van Graafeiland’s fleeting commentary may embody his own personal views on the subject of dismissing to foreign forums, it does not represent the law of the Second Circuit. (He was one of the dissenters in the Alcoa Steamship en banc opinion). It certainly does not support the significant weight attached by the majority here to the procedural advantages of our judicial system.
In short, taken to its logical conclusion, the majority’s holding renders the doctrine of forum non conveniens a nullity in actions involving American plaintiffs facing the spectre of litigating in a foreign forum. Since the United States judicial system inevitably will be the most attractive forum, dismissal by a district court will seldom be appropriate under the majority’s analysis. For this reason, I do not believe the significant weight attached to this “practical consideration” by the majority is either necessary or appropriate. I therefore would hold that the district court did not err in failing to consider the attractiveness of our judicial system as a separate factor.
Having concluded that the district court properly balanced the private interest factors, I now turn to the public interest factors.
Public Interest Factors
A. Interest of the Forum in the Dispute
I begin by addressing the majority’s strained characterization of Missouri’s interest in the dispute. By virtue of the Hansens’ residence in Missouri for five months of the year, the majority concludes that Missouri has a stronger interest in this litigation. In reaching this conclusion, the majority rejects the district court’s finding that it would be burdensome to impose jury duty on Missouri since it has “no significant relationship to this litigation”.
In my view, the same factors which render this litigation burdensome to the Missouri community convincingly indicate the absence of a local interest in this action. The underlying accident occurred in Jamaica's territorial waters. It was caused by a Jamaican citizen as a result of his soliciting hotel guests for a motorboat outing in close proximity to the beach. Injury resulted to a tourist visiting the island. Since
The majority also says that the United States itself has an interest in seeing that the plaintiffs have a forum in this country. This theory has been accorded little weight when addressed by other courts in similar contexts. Id. at 792-93; Dahl, supra, 632 F.2d at 1032. To the extent that the United States has any interest in providing the plaintiff with a forum in this country, Jamaica’s interest in having a localized controversy decided at home outweighs the United States' de minimis interest in this litigation.
I would hold that the district court reasonably concluded that this factor favored Jamaica as the proper forum.
B. Application of Substantive Law
The majority accedes in what is not disputed by any party to this action — that the law to be vindicated is that of Jamaica. Nevertheless, the majority contends that the district court did not conclude that it would have difficulty in applying Jamaican law.
In Piper Aircraft, the Court held that “the need to apply foreign law pointed towards dismissal”. 454 U.S. at 260. There is an “appropriateness ... in having the trial of a ... case in a forum that is at home with the ... law that must govern the case”. Gilbert, supra, 330 U.S. at 509; see also Calavo Growers v. Belgium, 632 F.2d 963, 967 (2d Cir.1980) (“the likelihood that [foreign] law would govern ... lends weight to the conclusion that the suit should be prosecuted in that jurisdiction”), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 1084 (1981). That an American court can interpret foreign law does not get around the fact that application of foreign law strongly favors dismissal. Nor does such a conclusion adequately address Jamaica’s strong interest in vindicating its own statutes.
By engaging in analytical confusion, the majority seeks to diminish the importance of this factor. I concede that, like all other factors, the fact that Jamaican substantive law governs this dispute is not dispositive. Pronouncements by the Supreme Court, however, indicate that when foreign law must be applied dismissal is appropriate. Whether or not the district court concluded that it could apply Jamaican law therefore is irrelevant. Jamaica has a strong interest in vindicating its local law.
I would hold that the district court properly concluded that this factor favored Jamaica as the forum.
IV.
Notwithstanding the majority’s de novo analysis of each Gilbert factor, the appropriate question to be asked on review is whether the district court’s balancing of the Gilbert factors was reasonable. I would answer that question in the affirmative. Had the majority felt constrained to evaluate the district court’s opinion in light of the standard of review set forth in Piper Aircraft and the relevant factors articu
After acknowledging the preference normally accorded a plaintiffs choice of forum, the district court properly enumerated the Gilbert factors. In applying Gilbert, the court found that numerous factors pointed to Jamaica as the most convenient forum: (1) all relevant events, with the exception of Jayne Reid-Walen’s hospitalization, occurred in Jamaica; (2) all of the occurrence witnesses resided in Jamaica and it would be “prohibitively” expensive to procure their attendance in Missouri; (3) defendants were subject to process in Jamaica; (4) defendants’ business insurance would pay for expenses and fees only if the action was brought in the Jamaican courts; (5) compulsory process for the attendance of witnesses was available in Jamaica; (6) ease of access to sources of proof and a potential view of the premises favored Jamaica as the forum; (7) Jamaican law governed the tort action; and (8) a Missouri forum would burden that community with jury duty when it has no relationship to the action. By contrast, the court concluded that only two factors favored litigation in Missouri: the plaintiffs’ United States citizenship and the defendants’ residence in Missouri for five months of each year. In view of the abundance of factors favoring Jamaica as the most convenient forum, and the relatively few factors pointing toward Missouri as the appropriate forum, the court concluded that dismissal was proper.
Not mentioned by the district court, but surely pertinent in determining whether its ultimate conclusion was reasonable, are other relevant factors which militated in favor of dismissal: a Jamaica forum would allow the Hansens to implead the third party boat operator, who irrefutably drove the boat which struck Reid-Walen and who ultimately may be liable for her injuries; and, since the accident occurred in its territorial waters, close to its beaches, and resulted in injuries to a tourist, Jamaica has a strong local interest in the outcome of this litigation. Piper Aircraft, supra, 454 U.S. at 260.
In short, the court analyzed the appropriate factors and concluded that Jamaica was the proper forum. Further, consistent with our holding in Mizokami Bros., supra, 660 F.2d at 719, dismissal of the action was subject to certain conditions: (1) that the Hansens consent to submit to the jurisdiction of the Jamaica courts; (2) that the Hansens waive any statute of limitations; (3) that the Hansens agree to make available in Jamaica all witnesses and documents within their control; and (4) that the Hansens agree to satisfy any judgment awarded in Jamaica courts to the maximum limits of their assets, including insurance coverage. These conditions assured that appellants would not be deprived of an adequate alternate forum.
In view of the great weight of factors in favor of dismissal, the district court opinion was in accord with those of other courts that have relegated to foreign forums plaintiffs who have commenced actions in the United States. Piper Aircraft, supra, 454 U.S. 235; Pain, supra, 637 F.2d 775; Dahl, supra, 632 F.2d 1027; Alcoa Steamship, supra, 654 F.2d 147; Mizokami Bros., supra, 556 F.2d 975.
To the extent that the majority believes that Lehman v. Humphrey Cayman, Ltd., 713 F.2d 339 (8th Cir.1983), cert. denied, 464 U.S. 1042 (1984) is controlling, it is appropriate to point out the numerous differences between the two cases. Perhaps the most persuasive reason for concluding that Lehman is not controlling here is that Jamaica’s law obviously should be applied to the appellants’ negligence claim. Restatement (Second) of Conflicts of Laws §§ 145 & 146 (1969). Unlike Lehman, there are no state law warranty claims at issue here. The only law at issue is that of Jamaica. Lehman was instructive on the appropriate forum in such a circumstance: a finding that a particular jurisdiction’s substantive law is controlling “would weigh in favor of trial [in that jurisdiction]”. Lehman, supra, 713 F.2d at 345. Absent similar state law warranty claims,
In short, Missouri has no interest in the dispute other than the part-time resident status of appellees. As the district court properly concluded, it would be inappropriate to impose jury duty on Missouri under these circumstances in light of Jamaica’s significant interest in the litigation.
V.
To summarize:
When an action is dismissed on grounds of forum non conveniens, our role on review is not to ascertain whether we would reach the same result if we were sitting on the district court, but, rather, to determine whether the district court’s balancing of the Gilbert factors was reasonable. If the district court’s balancing of all the relevant factors was reasonable, it has not abused its discretion.
The majority has lost sight of our role as a reviewing court in its quest to find a United States forum for the plaintiff. It merely has substituted its analysis of the Gilbert factors for that of the district court and in so doing has strained to the breaking point the law governing forum non conveniens dismissals. Since I would hold that the district court’s balancing of the Gilbert factors was reasonable, the dismissal of this action on the ground of forum non conveniens should be affirmed. From the majority’s refusal to do so, I respectfully dissent.