Venue

Question 1

Venue

Answer 1

A. Tells you which district court in the state may hear the case.
i. If the court that has power over the subject matter and the state has personal jurisdiction, the question then becomes which district may the action be brought in?

Question 2

1391(a): Venue

-Jurisdiction Founded Solely on Diversity

Answer 2

1. Venue will lie in any district where any defendant resides, so long as all defendants reside in the same state
2. Venue will lie in any district in which a substantial part of the events or omissions giving rise to the claim occurred or where a substantial part of the property that is the subject of the action is situated.
3. Venue will, also, lie in any district in which any defendant is subject to personal jurisdiction, but only if neither of the above apply.

Question 3

1391(b): Corporate Defendants.

Answer 3

1. For the purposes of determining venue, and venue only, a corporate defendant is said to reside in any judicial district in which it is subject to personal jurisdiction
2. If there is more than one judicial district, the corporation will be deemed to reside in any district in which its contacts would be sufficient to subject it to personal jurisdiction if that district were a separate state.
3. If there is no such district, the corporation will be said to reside in the district within which it has the most significant contacts.

Question 4

1391(c): Aliens.

Answer 4

1. a natural person, including an alien lawfully admitted for permit residence in USA, shall be deemed to reside in the judicial district in which that person is domiciled
   - an individual D who lives in a mutli-district state will “reside” in only one district for venue purposes, the district where they actually live.
2. a D not resident in the USA may be sued in any district

Question 5

1404 Transfer

Answer 5

1. For the convenience of parties and witnesses, in the interest in justice, a district court may transfer any civil action to any other district or division where it might have been brought
   .
2. May be requested by either the plaintiff or the defendant

Question 6

1406 Cure or Waiver of Defects

Answer 6

1. The district court of a district in which is filed a case laying venue in the wrong division or district shall dismiss the case.
2. However, if it be in the interest of justice, the court may transfer the case to any district or division in which it could have been brought.

Question 7

1631 Transfer to Cure Want of Jurisdiction

Answer 7

1. Where the court finds an action or appeal to be in want of jurisdiction, it shall, if in the interest of justice, transfer such action or appeal to another court in which it could have been brought

Question 8

Forum Non Conveniens (Main)

Answer 8

1. The Forum Non Conveniens Doctrine is a common law doctrine which allows a court, that has jurisdiction over a case, to decline to hear the case out of fairness to the parties if there is another court available which would be more convenient
2. It does not result in a transfer; it results in a dismissal of the case.
3. The doctrine is only available to defendant; however, the plaintiff may still re-file

Question 9

Forum Non Coveniens (Supplement)

Answer 9

v. Forum non conveniens determination is committed to sound discretion of trial court, and it may be reversed only when there has been clear abuse of discretion; where district court has considered all relevant public and private interest factors and where its balancing of those factors is reasonable, its decision deserves substantial deference.

Question 10

Forum Non Coveniens Private “Interest Factors”

Answer 10

a. Ease of access to sources of proof
b. Availability of forcing unwilling witnesses
c. Cost of obtaining willing witnesses
d. Possibility of view of premises, if appropriate
e. Any other practical problems

Question 11

Forum Non Conveniens Public “Interest Factors”

Answer 11

a. Administrative difficulties flowing from court congestion
b. Local interest in settling local disputes
c. Trial of a diversity case that is at home with the law that must govern the action
d. Avoiding unnecessary problems with a conflicting laws or the application of foreign laws
e. Unfairness of burdening citizens in an unrelated forum with jury duty

Question 12

Piper Aircraft v. Reyno

Answer 12

vi. Plaintiffs may not defeat a motion to dismiss on ground of forum non conveniens merely by showing that substantive law that would be applied in an alternative forum is less favorable to plaintiff than that of the present forum.