Opinion ID: 174852
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Advantage of Having Local Court Determine Questions of Local Law

Text: This factor weighs slightly against transfer. When the merits of an action are unique to a particular locale, courts favor adjudication by a court sitting in that locale. See Black & Veatch Constr., Inc. v. ABB Power Generation, Inc., 123 F.Supp.2d 569, 581 (D.Kan.2000) (transferring an action to a federal district court whose substantive state law applied to the contract); see also Bailey v. Union Pac. R.R. Co., 364 F.Supp.2d 1227, 1233 (D.Colo.2005) (There is a local interest in having localized controversies decided at home. (internal quotation marks omitted)). In this action, the merits involve a dispute over the parameters of the duty to defend and indemnify under CGL insurance policies. Although the CGL policies were negotiated, underwritten, and executed outside of Wyoming, the potentially insured actions consist of allegedly negligent work on a luxury hotel in Wyoming. Furthermore, as explained infra Part III, Wyoming state law also governs the interpretation of the CGL policies.