Mandell v. Bell Atl. Nynex Mobile

717 A.2d 1002, 315 N.J. Super. 273
CourtNew Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division
DecidedMarch 27, 1997
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 717 A.2d 1002 (Mandell v. Bell Atl. Nynex Mobile) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mandell v. Bell Atl. Nynex Mobile, 717 A.2d 1002, 315 N.J. Super. 273 (N.J. Ct. App. 1997).

Opinion

717 A.2d 1002 (1997)

Daniel J. MANDELL, on Behalf of Himself and all Other Similarly Situated, Plaintiff,
v.
BELL ATLANTIC NYNEX MOBILE, Defendant.

Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Somerset County.

Decided March 27, 1997.

*1004 Robert J. Berg, Newark, for plaintiff (Goldstein, Till & Lite, attorneys).

Stephen M. Offen, Somerville, for defendant (Schacter, Trombadore, Offen, Stanton & Pavics, attorneys).

*1003 HOENS, J.S.C.

Before the court is the motion of defendant Bell Atlantic (Bell) to dismiss the complaint on grounds of forum non conveniens or, in the alternative, for dismissal or stay pursuant to the doctrine of primary jurisdiction. We deal with these issues at some length in light of the parties' suggestion that this is a case of first impression in New Jersey.

Plaintiff Mandell, who sues individually and on behalf of a proposed class of individuals similarly situated, is a resident of North Carolina who subscribes to Bell's interstate cellular telephone services. The essence of the complaint is that Bell failed to disclose to him and, by extension to the other members of the class, its practice of "rounding up" telephone charges to the next highest full minute for billing purposes. In support of his claim, he identifies a standard form contract which he signed and which he contends does not make a disclosure of this billing practice. Bell, in support of its motion, contends that the provision Mandell complains of has never been included in any contract executed or used in New Jersey and produced as a part of the record before this court on this motion a copy of the standard form contract used here which in fact fully discloses the rounding up practice.

In light of this, Bell contends that there are and there can be no class members or other affected plaintiffs residing here in New Jersey and that as a result, the doctrine of forum non conveniens dictates that the matter not proceed to discovery or trial here in this state. In the alternative, Bell contends that the regulation of billing practices in the highly regulated telephone industry is strictly within the purview of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) such that under the doctrine of primary jurisdiction, this court should await the outcome of any proceedings in that forum which has special expertise to decide the issue plaintiff seeks to raise here. In reply, plaintiff contends that, regarding the doctrine of forum non conveniens, his choice of a forum is entitled to substantial deference and cannot be disturbed absent a showing that the choice of New Jersey as the forum is "demonstrably inappropriate". In the alternative, plaintiff contends that the doctrine of primary jurisdiction can only be invoked upon a specific showing which he contends is lacking in this case. Therefore, plaintiff argues that the motion to dismiss, or in the alternative to stay, should be denied in its entirety.

The dispute here is unusual, because in general it is defendant which has limited contacts with the forum and which as a result is resisting being required to conduct discovery and present a defense here, arguing that the forum chosen by plaintiff is inappropriate on those grounds. Here, there is no question but that this court has jurisdiction over defendant and that conducting discovery here would not be especially burdensome to it. Bell's argument, rather, is that given that neither the named plaintiff nor any member of the proposed class of plaintiffs reside here, plaintiff's choice of forum is to be accorded far less deference. Moreover, defendant's argument is that given that no right of any citizen of our State can possibly be affected by this litigation, and that there is absolutely no factual nexus between this State and the claims in this litigation, regardless of the level of deference accorded to plaintiff, permitting the case to proceed here is inappropriate. It points to cases in which it contends the Appellate Division dismissed class action complaints on similar grounds. See Feldman v. Bates Mfg. Co., 143 N.J.Super. 84, 362 A.2d 1177 (App.Div.1976), and to other cases in which the court dismissed the complaint for insufficient nexus to the form. See Mowrey v. Duriron, 260 N.J.Super. 402, 616 A.2d 1300 (App.Div.1992); Heavner v. Uniroyal, Inc., 63 N.J. 130, 305 A.2d 412 (1973). On this threshold issue, plaintiff disputes the application of those decisions here, pointing out that in Feldman, defendant was a Delaware corporation, thus lacking *1005 the nexus over defendant demonstrated in this case, and arguing in conclusion that his choice of forum should prevail in this case.

While each side to this dispute cites numerous decisions of the courts of New Jersey and elsewhere in support of the arguments they raise, the issue squarely presented here has not previously been decided in this state. The seminal decision in New Jersey regarding forum non conveniens is the Appellate Division's opinion in D'Agostino v. Johnson & Johnson, 225 N.J.Super. 250, 542 A.2d 44 (App.Div.1988), aff'd, 115 N.J. 491, 494, 559 A.2d 420 (1989). There the court identified private interest and public interest factors which it held must be considered individually in any case in which forum non conveniens is in issue. Citing the United States Supreme Court's decision in Gulf Oil Corp. v. Gilbert, 330 U.S. 501, 67 S.Ct. 839, 91 L.Ed. 1055 (1947), the Appellate Division held:

Although phrased in a variety of ways, the essence of the doctrine is that a court may decline jurisdiction whenever the ends of justice indicate a trial in the forum selected by the plaintiff would be inappropriate. The principle is often invoked to protect the private interests of the litigants, such as availability of witnesses and the ease of access to other sources of proof.
[Semanishin v. Metropolitan Life Ins. Co., 46 N.J. 531, 533, 218 A.2d 401 (1966).]

In general, the private and public interest factors have been distilled over time to include several elements. In summary, the private interest factors include: (1) the relative ease of access to sources of proof; (2) the availability of compulsory process for attendance of unwilling witnesses; (3) the cost of obtaining the attendance of willing witnesses; (4) the possibility of viewing the premises; and (5) and all other practical problems that make trial of a case easy, expeditious and inexpensive. The public interest factors include: (1) the administrative difficulties flowing from court congestion; (2) the local interest from having localized controversies decided at home; (3) the interest of having a trial of a diversity case in a forum that is at home with the law that must govern the action; (4) the avoidance of unnecessary problems in conflict of laws or the application of foreign law; and (5) the unfairness of burdening citizens in an unrelated forum with jury duty. Derensis v. Coopers & Lybrand Chartered Accountants, 930 F.Supp. 1003, 1007 (D.N.J.1996), citing Piper Aircraft Co. v. Reyno, 454 U.S. 235, 241, 102 S.Ct. 252, 70 L.Ed.2d 419 (1981). The court should make its determination by balancing all of the relevant factors. Neither list is exhaustive, and certain factors may be more or less relevant in particular cases. Derensis v. Coopers & Lybrand Chartered Accountants, supra, 930 F.Supp. at 1007, citing Van Cauwenberghe v. Biard, 486 U.S. 517, 528, 108 S.Ct.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Varo v. Owens-Illinois, Inc.
948 A.2d 673 (New Jersey Superior Court App Division, 2008)
First England Funding, LLC v. Aetna Life Ins. & Annuity Co.
790 A.2d 243 (New Jersey Superior Court App Division, 2002)
Globe American Casualty Co. v. Boo Hyun Chung
589 A.2d 956 (Court of Appeals of Maryland, 1991)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
717 A.2d 1002, 315 N.J. Super. 273, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mandell-v-bell-atl-nynex-mobile-njsuperctappdiv-1997.