Opinion ID: 436172
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Assuming a State Forum is Still Available

Text: 69 Once the district court had directed a verdict against the antitrust claims, it had only the state claims left to consider; as would of course be true in any case in which the federal claims are insufficient to create a jury issue. This predominance of the state claim, by itself, is not determinative; the federal claims can drop out of the case after trial yet dismissal of pendent state claims nevertheless might be an abuse of discretion. See Caserta v. Village of Dickinson, 672 F.2d at 433 (holding that district court properly dismissed federal claims after trial, but abused discretion in dismissing pendent state claims). 70 The district court relied primarily upon the second factor, the novelty of the state unfair competition allegations, as grounds for dismissing the pendent claims. 71 [C]omity requires that this court defer to the courts of Alabama for a ruling on the alleged unfair competition claim. That claim, as alleged in the complaint, has never been recognized by the Alabama courts. A preliminary search for Alabama authority has revealed a single case on the general issue, with facts quite dissimilar from the facts here. Thus, what is helpful in that opinion is, for the most part, mere dictum. 72