Opinion ID: 845766
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: the seriously inconvenient standard

Text: It is in light of this background and history of the forum non conveniens doctrine that we must assess the judgment of the circuit court in this case. The Court of Appeals panel concluded that the trial court abused its discretion by resisting jurisdiction without determining that Wayne County was a seriously inconvenient forum. The panel reached this conclusion on the basis of the Court of Appeals past decisions in Robey v. Ford Motor Co . [3] and Manfredi v. Johnson Controls, Inc. [4] Robey stated: When a party requests that a court decline jurisdiction based on the doctrine of forum non conveniens, there are two inquiries for the court to make: whether the forum is inconvenient and whether there is a more appropriate forum available. If there is not a more appropriate forum elsewhere, the inquiry ends and the court may not resist imposition of jurisdiction. If there is a more appropriate forum, the court still may not decline jurisdiction unless its own forum is seriously inconvenient. [ Robey, 155 Mich.App. at 645, 400 N.W.2d 610.] The majority contends that the seriously inconvenient standard is inconsistent with Cray. Therefore, it overturns Robey and eliminates the seriously inconvenient standard. As one can see from the earlier discussion of the foundation of the forum non conveniens doctrine, Robey was far from inconsistent with Cray. In fact, the seriously inconvenient standard is well grounded in the precedents of this Court and the United States Supreme Court in the area. Rather, it is the decision of this majority that is inconsistent with Cray. The basic concept undergirding the forum non conveniens doctrine is that a case should be dismissed if the plaintiff brought it in a completely inappropriate forum. Norwood, 349 U.S. at 31, 75 S.Ct. 544. But the doctrine has limited application, and the plaintiff's choice of forum is accorded significant deference. [U]nless the balance is strongly in favor of the defendant, the plaintiff's choice of forum should rarely be disturbed. Gulf Oil Corp., 330 U.S. at 508, 67 S.Ct. 839 (emphasis added). The balance swings strongly in favor of the defendant when the plaintiff chooses a forum to `vex,' `harass,' or `oppress' the defendant. Id. (citation omitted). The seriously inconvenient standard falls directly in line with this precedent. It assures that a court does not force a plaintiff to run the risk of losing, or the expense of refiling, his or her claim because of a mere trifle. To warrant a dismissal based on forum non conveniens, the defendant must be faced with strong or significant inconvenience such as vexation, harassment, or oppression. Id. Only when a forum is `completely inappropriate and inconvenient [so] that it is better to stop' is forum non conveniens appropriate. Norwood, 349 U.S. at 31, 75 S.Ct. 544 (citation omitted). The seriously inconvenient requirement recognized in Robey assures that this standard is met. It stretches the imagination to hold that the seriously inconvenient standard is inconsistent with Cray. As has been noted already, Cray cited the Restatement Second with approval. The section it cited applies the very same standard: A state will not exercise jurisdiction if it is a seriously inconvenient forum for the trial of the action provided that a more appropriate forum is available to the plaintiff. [1 Restatement Conflict of Laws, 2d, § 84, p. 251 (emphasis added).] Nothing else in Cray contradicts this standard and the Court did not distinguish it elsewhere in the opinion or in subsequent cases. Instead, the Court articulated a consistent standard of forum non conveniens review. [5] Given that this Court noted with approval the seriously inconvenient standard when first recognizing forum non conveniens in this state, the standard is well founded in our law. It appears rash for the majority to overturn this properly recognized minimum standard for determining that a forum is sufficiently inconvenient. In this case, the trial court did not make a finding that Wayne County was a seriously inconvenient forum. Hence, it failed to recognize the `careful limitations' that have applied to the forum non conveniens doctrine. Norwood, 349 U.S. at 31, 75 S.Ct. 544 (citation omitted). Because the court did not make this finding, it did not conclude that the balance weighed so strongly in favor of defendant that plaintiffs' choice of forum warrants disturbance. Gulf Oil Corp., 330 U.S. at 508, 67 S.Ct. 839. As the Court of Appeals noted, the failure of the trial court to meet this minimal standard was an abuse of discretion.