J. Willard Nalls, Jr., as Administrator for the Estate of John C. Abraham, Deceased v. Rolls-Royce Limited, Aerospatiale (Snias) (Societe National Industrielle Aerospatiale) Carol E. Ramamurti, as Administratrix for the Estate of Chinni P. Ramamurti v. Rolls-Royce Limited, Aerospatiale (Snias) (Societe National Industrielle Aerospatiale) Carol E. Ramamurti, as Administratrix for the Estate of Chinni P. Ramamurti v. Rolls-Royce Limited, Air India, Inc.

702 F.2d 255, 226 U.S. App. D.C. 276, 1983 U.S. App. LEXIS 29879
CourtCourt of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
DecidedMarch 8, 1983
Docket82-1975
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 702 F.2d 255 (J. Willard Nalls, Jr., as Administrator for the Estate of John C. Abraham, Deceased v. Rolls-Royce Limited, Aerospatiale (Snias) (Societe National Industrielle Aerospatiale) Carol E. Ramamurti, as Administratrix for the Estate of Chinni P. Ramamurti v. Rolls-Royce Limited, Aerospatiale (Snias) (Societe National Industrielle Aerospatiale) Carol E. Ramamurti, as Administratrix for the Estate of Chinni P. Ramamurti v. Rolls-Royce Limited, Air India, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
J. Willard Nalls, Jr., as Administrator for the Estate of John C. Abraham, Deceased v. Rolls-Royce Limited, Aerospatiale (Snias) (Societe National Industrielle Aerospatiale) Carol E. Ramamurti, as Administratrix for the Estate of Chinni P. Ramamurti v. Rolls-Royce Limited, Aerospatiale (Snias) (Societe National Industrielle Aerospatiale) Carol E. Ramamurti, as Administratrix for the Estate of Chinni P. Ramamurti v. Rolls-Royce Limited, Air India, Inc., 702 F.2d 255, 226 U.S. App. D.C. 276, 1983 U.S. App. LEXIS 29879 (D.C. Cir. 1983).

Opinion

702 F.2d 255

226 U.S.App.D.C. 276

J. Willard NALLS, Jr., as Administrator for the Estate of
John C. Abraham, Deceased,
v.
ROLLS-ROYCE LIMITED, Appellant Aerospatiale (SNIAS) (Societe
National Industrielle Aerospatiale), et al.
Carol E. RAMAMURTI, as Administratrix for the Estate of
Chinni P. Ramamurti
v.
ROLLS-ROYCE LIMITED, Appellant Aerospatiale (SNIAS) (Societe
National Industrielle Aerospatiale), et al.
Carol E. RAMAMURTI, as Administratrix for the Estate of
Chinni P. Ramamurti
v.
ROLLS-ROYCE LIMITED, et al., Air India, Inc., Appellant.

Nos. 82-1975, 82-1976 and 82-2033.

United States Court of Appeals,
District of Columbia Circuit.

March 8, 1983.

Appeals from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (D.C. Civil Action Nos. 77-02156 & 77-01740).

ON DENIAL OF REHEARING EN BANC

Before ROBINSON, Chief Judge, and WRIGHT, TAMM, MacKINNON, WILKEY, WALD, MIKVA, EDWARDS, GINSBURG, BORK and SCALIA, Circuit Judges.

ORDER

PER CURIAM.

The suggestion for rehearing en banc of Rolls-Royce Limited has been circulated to the full Court. A majority of the members of the Court have not voted in favor thereof. On consideration of the foregoing, it is

ORDERED by the Court en banc that the suggestion is denied.

Circuit Judges MacKINNON and WILKEY would grant the suggestion for rehearing en banc. A statement of Circuit Judge WILKEY is attached.

Statement as to Reasons for Voting for En Banc Consideration

WILKEY, Circuit Judge, with whom joined MacKINNON, Circuit Judge:

Appellants ask us to review the district court's decision not to dismiss the suit against them on forum non conveniens grounds. Two judges of the motions panel considering the appeal, without opinion, dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. I believe that justice requires consideration of the forum non conveniens and appealability issues presented by this case by a merits panel or, failing that, en banc.

I. Forum non conveniens ISSUES

As the district court acknowledged, defendants' forum non conveniens motion presents a difficult legal question. We set forth the applicable standard for forum non conveniens dismissals in Pain v. United Technologies Corporation:1

[A] district judge's forum non conveniens inquiry should proceed in four steps. As a prerequisite, the court must establish whether an adequate alternative forum exists which possesses jurisdiction over the whole case. Next, the trial judge must consider all relevant factors of private interests, weighing in the balance a strong presumption against disturbing plaintiffs' initial forum choice. If the trial judge finds this balance of the private interests to be in equipoise or near equipoise, he must then determine whether or not factors of public interest tip the balance in favor of a trial in a foreign forum. If he decides that the balance favors such a foreign forum, the trial judge must finally ensure that plaintiffs can reinstate their suit in the alternative forum without undue inconvenience or prejudice.

Private interest factors include matters such as the relative ease of access to sources of proof, availability of compulsory process, and the cost of obtaining attendance of witnesses; public interest factors comprise the burden imposed by the trial in the community, the degree of local public interest in the dispute, and whether local or foreign law will be applicable.2 Finally, Pain noted that the plaintiff's citizenship and residence in the United States merit no special consideration in this balancing process.3

A consideration of these factors shows that, at the very least, appellants may make a strong case for dismissal on forum non conveniens grounds.4 First, it is clear that there is an adequate alternative forum which possesses jurisdiction over this case. Fifty-four related suits, arising out of this accident and brought against these same defendants, are now before the English High Court, in London, England. Were plaintiffs' suits to be dismissed here, they could be consolidated with those in London.

Second, as to the factors of private interest, the most critical fact is that no event relative to plaintiffs' claim occurred in the United States. The accident itself occurred in India; the airplane which crashed was maintained in India by two Indian airlines; the plane was manufactured in France, and its engine manufactured in England. Hence, with the exception of one Rolls-Royce employee, "tangentially involved" with the facts of this case, who has now been transferred to Seattle, Washington, witnesses and documentary evidence as to the manufacture, maintenance and flight of the airplane are in France, England or India. And while some witnesses--members of the plaintiffs' family--who might testify as to the issue of damages live in the United States, other witnesses on this issue as well might have to be brought from India, where Nalls' decedent was a citizen and resided at the time of the accident.

On the other hand, some private factors do favor a trial in the District of Columbia. The District is the only place in the United States where plaintiffs can acquire personal jurisdiction over all the defendants--Air India, the French manufacturer, and the British manufacturer who are defendants of the present suit. Plaintiffs live in the United States, and hence it may be more convenient for them to bring suit here than in England. And it is arguably no more inconvenient for witnesses to travel to Washington, D.C., than to London, England, although we note that it is certainly more inconvenient for them to have to attend trial in both cities than in one. Finally, plaintiffs have agreed to mitigate the inconvenience to Rolls-Royce to some extent bydeposing Rolls-Royce employees in England.

Third, with regard to the public interest factors, it is striking that there is absolutely no connection between this suit and the District of Columbia, although there are some contacts with other parts of the United States. One decedent, an American citizen, lived with his family in the State of Washington; the other was a citizen of, and lived in, India, although he had been educated in the United States and planned at some point to return to Baltimore, where his wife and family lived. As we noted in Pain, this lack of contact reflects adversely both on the justification for burdening the community with a lengthy and complicated trial and on the interest the community might have in conducting the trial locally. Moreover, the applicable law is entirely foreign--Indian, English or French. There is thus no local or federal policy which might be vindicated in the present suit. And the trial court will have to resolve difficult questions of foreign law on the basis of expert testimony.

Fourth, plaintiffs maintain that they would suffer inconvenience or prejudice by having to reinstate their suit in London.

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Related

Rolls-Royce Ltd. v. Nalls
461 U.S. 970 (Supreme Court, 1983)

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702 F.2d 255, 226 U.S. App. D.C. 276, 1983 U.S. App. LEXIS 29879, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/j-willard-nalls-jr-as-administrator-for-the-estate-of-john-c-abraham-cadc-1983.