Opinion ID: 181111
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Deference to Plaintiff's Forum Selection

Text: The district court failed to accord the appropriate degree of deference to Zions' selection of Michigan as the forum for prosecuting this action. Indeed, the district court's ruling does not mention, and does not appear to have considered, the deference that a plaintiff's choice of forum is normally accorded, or the fact that it was Zions, a U.S. plaintiff, that made the forum selection. In this appeal, MDM contends that the deference normally given to a plaintiff's choice of a forum does not apply when the forum is not the home of the plaintiff. See Piper Aircraft, 454 U.S. at 255-56, 102 S.Ct. 252 (noting that a foreign plaintiff's choice of forum does not carry the same assumption that its choice of forum is convenient as does the choice of a plaintiff bringing suit in its home forum). Zions, a Utah corporation, brought this case in Michigan, where it is not a resident. Unlike the Scottish plaintiff in Piper Aircraft, however, Zions is not a foreign plaintiff. It is a corporation with its principal place of business in Salt Lake City, Utah, and therefore a U.S. plaintiff. Thus, the lesser standard of deference to a plaintiff's choice of forum does not apply. Moreover, Zions has brought this action in the district in which the claims allegedly arose. If the claim by MDM is that Utah is a more convenient forum, then such matter is addressed under 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a). If the claim is that the case is better suited for disposition in Mexico, then the doctrine of forum non conveniens provides the analysis, which includes the strong presumption in favor of the plaintiff's forum selection. Although we note that a district court need not make an explicit finding that proceeding with the suit in the United States would be oppressive or vexatious to a defendant, Kryvicky v. Scandinavian Airlines Sys., 807 F.2d 514, 517 (6th Cir. 1986), the forum non conveniens determination must indicate that the district court considered whether any oppression and vexation to a defendant was out of all proportion to plaintiff's convenience. Koster, 330 U.S. at 524, 67 S.Ct. 828. Here, the district court's opinion does not indicate that it undertook the requisite analysis. Accordingly, the district court erred in failing to accord Zions the strong presumption in favor of its selection of the Eastern District of Michigan as the forum for this case.