Commercial Equipment Co. v. Barclay Furniture Co.

738 F. Supp. 974, 1990 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7497, 1990 WL 83371
District Court, W.D. North Carolina·Decided June 18, 1990·No. C-C-90-14-P·Published·Cited by 24 cases

Opinion

ORDER

ROBERT D. POTTER, Chief Judge.

THIS MATTER is before the Court on the Defendant’s Motion to Transfer Venue, filed March 5, 1990, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a). The Defendant, Barclay Furniture Co. (hereafter “Barclay”), is seeking a transfer of this ease to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi, arguably because of the interests of justice and the convenience of the parties and witnesses. The Plaintiff, Commercial Equipment Company, Inc. (hereafter “Commercial”), timely has responded to Barclay’s Motion and opposes the transfer. The parties have inundated the Court with affidavits from potential witnesses in the case. Before disposing of Barclay’s Motion to Transfer Venue, the Court carefully considered all of the submissions of both Barclay and Commercial.

Neither Barclay nor Commercial has requested a hearing on Barclay’s Motion. Based on the parties’ submissions, the Court believes that a hearing would not meaningfully assist the Court in its resolution of the issues.

I.FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Commercial is a North Carolina corporation with its principal place of business in Charlotte, North Carolina. Barclay is a Mississippi corporation with its principal place of business in Sherman, Mississippi. On January 16, 1990, Commercial filed its Complaint against Barclay. Commercial is seeking damages allegedly arising out of Barclay’s anticipatory and actual breaches of a Vehicle Lease Agreement executed by, and subsequently amended by, both Commercial and Barclay (hereafter “the Agreement”).

According to the pleadings, on or about February 9, 1988, Commercial and Barclay executed the Agreement in connection with Commercial’s lease of tractor-trailers (hereafter “the Equipment”) to Barclay. The Agreement’s terms provided Commercial with the option, upon Barclay’s cancellation of the Agreement, to require Barclay to purchase the Equipment from Commercial. On November 14, 1989, Barclay cancelled the Agreement. Commercial subsequently advised Barclay that it intended to exercise its option provided in the Agreement. Barclay, however, has refused to purchase the Equipment on the grounds that Commercial breached the Agreement by, among other things:

1. Failing to use diligent and concerted efforts, as required in the Agreement, to replace some specifically identified Equipment with other specifically identified types of equipment;
2. Failing properly to replace specified equipment, as required in the Agreement;
3. Failing properly to upgrade some of the engines in the Equipment, as required in the Agreement;
*976 4. Failing properly to maintain and service the Equipment, as required in the Agreement; and
5. Essentially over-charging Barclay mileage rates for the Equipment.

Barclay claims that Commercial’s breaches resulted in the loss of revenues and justified its cancellation of the Agreement.

II. APPLICABLE LAW

Section 1404(a) of Title 28 of the United States Code provides as follows:

(a) For the convenience of parties and witnesses, in the interests of justice, a district court may transfer any civil action to any other district or division where it might have been brought.

28 U.S.C. § 1404(a) (1982). The resolution of a motion to transfer a case under section 1404(a) rests in the sound discretion of the district court. Bates v. J.C. Penney Co., 624 F.Supp. 226, 227 (W.D.N.C.1985).

This Court long has recognized that in considering a motion to transfer pursuant to section 1404(a), a court ordinarily should accord the plaintiffs choice of forum great weight. Datasouth Computer Corp. v. Three Dimensional Technologies, Inc., 719 F.Supp. 446, 451 (W.D.N.C.1989); Phillips v. S. Gumpert Co., 627 F.Supp. 725, 727 (W.D.N.C.1986); Bates, 624 F.Supp. at 227; Western Steer-Mom ‘N’ Pop’s, Inc. v. FMT Investments, Inc., 578 F.Supp. 260, 265 (W.D.N.C.1984). This Court has acknowledged also that “a plaintiffs choice of a proper forum is a paramount consideration in any determination of a transfer request, and that choice ... should not be lightly disturbed.” Data-south, 719 F.Supp. at 451 (citations omitted). A defendant moving for a transfer of forum from a district in which venue is proper carries a particularly heavy burden. Phillips, 627 F.Supp. at 726-27; Bates, 624 F.Supp. at 227; DMP Corp. v. Fruehauf Corp., 617 F.Supp. 76, 77 (W.D.N.C.1985). A court should not disturb the plaintiff’s choice of forum unless the moving party demonstrates that the balance of convenience to the parties and witnesses and the interests of justice weigh heavily in favor of the transfer to another district. More-head v. Barksdale, 263 F.2d 117, 119 (4th Cir.1959); Phillips, 627 F.Supp. at 726-27; Bates, 624 F.Supp. at 227; A.L. Williams & Assoc., Inc. v. D.R. Richardson & Assoc., Inc., 98 F.R.D. 748, 754 (N.D.Ga.1983). Because of the plaintiffs initial right to choose the forum, a court should refrain from transferring an action if the transfer merely would shift the inconvenience from one party to another. See DMP Corp., 617 F.Supp. at 77; Flowers Indus., Inc. v. Baker & Confectionery Union, 565 F.Supp. 286, 293-94 (N.D.Ga.1983); see 1A Pt. 2 J. Moore, W. Taggart, A. Vestal, J. Wicker, & B. Ringle, Moore’s Federal Practice Para. ,345[5] (2d. ed. 1990).

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Commercial Equipment Co. v. Barclay Furniture Co., 738 F. Supp. 974, 1990 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7497, 1990 WL 83371 (W.D.N.C. 1990).

738 F. Supp. 974 (Commercial Equipment Co. v. Barclay Furniture Co.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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