Forum Non Conveniens

Forum non conveniens is a discretionary doctrine that permits a court to decline jurisdiction and dismiss a case when another forum is significantly more appropriate for the litigation. Unlike transfer of venue (28 U.S.C. Section 1404), which moves a case within the federal system, forum non conveniens typically results in dismissal so the case can be refiled in a court of another country.

The threshold requirement is the existence of an adequate alternative forum. A forum is adequate if the defendant is amenable to process there and the subject matter of the dispute is cognizable. A forum is generally adequate even if it offers less favorable substantive law, unless the law is so unfavorable that it essentially denies the plaintiff a remedy.

Once an adequate alternative forum is identified, courts weigh private and public interest factors. Private interest factors include ease of access to sources of proof, availability and cost of obtaining willing and unwilling witnesses, the possibility of viewing premises or evidence, and all other practical problems that make trial of a case easy, expeditious, and inexpensive. Public interest factors include the administrative burden on the court, the local interest in having localized controversies decided at home, avoiding conflict-of-law problems, and the unfairness of burdening citizens of an unrelated forum with jury duty.

Piper Aircraft Co. v. Reyno (1981) is the leading Supreme Court case. Scottish plaintiffs sued an American aircraft manufacturer in the United States after a crash in Scotland. The Court held that dismissal was proper because Scotland was a more convenient forum, even though Scottish law was less favorable to the plaintiffs. The Court emphasized that a plaintiff's choice of forum is entitled to less deference when the plaintiff is foreign.

Forum non conveniens is distinct from forum selection clauses, which are contractual agreements about where disputes will be litigated. While related in spirit, they involve different legal frameworks.

On exams, forum non conveniens appears in international dispute fact patterns. The analysis requires identifying an adequate alternative forum and systematically weighing private and public interest factors.