Cornell's Legal Information Institute Previews Upcoming Argument in Forum Non Conveniens Case before the Supreme Court

Per Cornell's LII Bulletin:

Sinochem Int'l v. Malaysia Int'l Shipping (06-102)
Court Appealed From: United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit

Oral Argument Date: January 9, 2007

FORUM NON CONVENIENS, PERSONAL JURISDICTION, SUBJECT MATTER JURISDICTION, HYPOTHETICAL JURISDICTION

The forum non conveniens motion asks a court to dismiss a pending case so that the dispute may be pursued in a different, more appropriate forum. This option is increasingly popular in cases where the defendant wishes to move the case from the courts of one nation to another. In this case, a shipment from the United States to China went awry, and the parties pursued litigation in both Chinese and American courts. In one of the suits, a federal district court granted a forum non conveniens motion, although it had not conclusively established that it had jursidiction over the parties. If the Supreme Court reasons that a forum non conveniens motion may be resolved before jurisdiction is determined, then litigants will benefit from expedient court decisions in appropriate forums. However, if the Court finds that a lower court may not dismiss on the ground of forum non conveniens before conclusively establishing jurisdiction, then litigants will be faced with the potential of lengthy proceedings in inappropriate forums. The Court's decision in this case will thus affect parties involved in duplicative litigation.

More detailed information about this case can be viewed by visiting the LII Bulletin here.