Venue

Question 1

Venue in federal court

Answer 1

Venue proper in judicial district:

1) where any D resides in state where all Ds reside; or
2) where substantial part of the events/omissions occurred; or
3) where property that is subject of the action is located (otherwise where any D is subject to PJ)

Residence—judicial district where D is domiciled for individual; where D subject to PJ for an entity; or, when entity is P, where principal place of business is located

Question 2

Change of venue in federal court

Answer 2

1. Original venue proper
   • General rule—transfer permitted to any district where case might have been brought or to which all parties consent
   • DJ—new district court must apply law from previous court
   • FQ—new district court in another appellate circuit will apply federal law as interpreted by its court of appeals (not the appellate circuit of the transferring district court)
2. Original venue improper
   • General rule—dismiss case or transfer case to proper district if it’s in the interest of justice
   • DJ—district court to which the case is transferred applies the choice-of-law rules of the state in which it is located (not the state law of the court transferring the case)
   • FQ—new court will apply its own court of appeals’ interpretation of law (not the appellate circuit of the transferring district court)
   • No PJ—a court lacking PJ over the D may transfer the case to a different venue

Question 3

Forum non conveniens

Answer 3

Federal—only used when forum that is deemed most appropriate for the action is a foreign court