Opinion ID: 195899
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: assessing reasonableness

Text: 55 Our odyssey is not yet at an end. In addition to holding that FMI's claim did not arise from BWC's in-forum contacts, the district court held, alternatively, that it would be unreasonable to exercise jurisdiction over BWC. See Foster-Miller, 848 F.Supp. at 277; see generally Asahi Metal Indus. Co. v. Superior Court, 480 U.S. 102, 113-16, 107 S.Ct. 1026, 1032-34, 94 L.Ed.2d 92 (1987) (undertaking reasonableness inquiry); Burger King Corp. v. Rudzewicz, 471 U.S. 462, 476-78, 482-85, 105 S.Ct. 2174, 2184-85, 2187-89, 85 L.Ed.2d 528 (1985) (similar). Since the rapid-fire shift of standards probably tainted this conclusion as well, we could simply vacate the alternative holding. We choose instead to dissect it for three reasons: the district court's rationale is troubling, it has been reported in a published opinion, and the underlying issue may arise on remand. 56 The hallmark of reasonableness in the context of personal jurisdiction is fair play and substantial justice. International Shoe Co. v. State of Washington, 326 U.S. 310, 320, 66 S.Ct. 154, 160, 90 L.Ed. 95 (1945). We have tended to channel the quest for that imperative through a template that highlights five factors. The factors include: 57 (1) the defendant's burden of appearing, (2) the forum state's interest in adjudicating the dispute, (3) the plaintiff's interest in obtaining convenient and effective relief, (4) the judicial system's interest in obtaining the most effective resolution of the controversy, and (5) the common interests of all sovereigns in promoting substantive social policies. 58 Pleasant St. I, 960 F.2d at 1088. We have called the points that compose this template the gestalt factors because, in any given case, they may neither be amenable to mechanical application nor be capable of producing an open-and-shut result. Their primary function is simply to illuminate the equitable dimensions of a specific situation, thereby put[ting] into sharper perspective the reasonableness and fundamental fairness of exercising jurisdiction in that situation. Pritzker, 42 F.3d at 64. 59 In the case at bar, the trial court found that the first, fourth, and fifth factors did not favor one outcome over the other, but that the remaining two factors discouraged the exercise of jurisdiction. See Foster-Miller, 848 F.Supp. at 277. The court then invoked a sixth factor--the ability of a Canadian court to apply Massachusetts law competently and impartially--and concluded that even if some harm had flowed to Foster-Miller from the Waltham meeting, the suit should be dismissed based on considerations of due process. Id. 60 The district court's analysis is flawed. First and foremost, the court's added consideration--the absence of any reason to believe that a Canadian court would display bias or prove incapable of applying Massachusetts law--has no place in the minimum contacts calculus. Though the five gestalt factors should not necessarily be deemed collectively exhaustive, see, e.g., FDIC v. British-American Ins. Co., 828 F.2d 1439, 1442 (9th Cir.1987) (recognizing additional factors), the element seized upon by the court below is of no relevance here. Moreover, it is already committed to the doctrine of forum non conveniens. See Gulf Oil Corp. v. Gilbert, 330 U.S. 501, 509, 67 S.Ct. 839, 843, 91 L.Ed. 1055 (1947); see also Burger King, 471 U.S. at 477 & n. 20, 105 S.Ct. at 2184 & n. 20 (specifically distinguishing between the primary role of the enumerated gestalt factors and the secondary role of considerations relevant to forum non conveniens ). The doctrines of personal jurisdiction and forum non conveniens share certain similarities, but they embody distinct concepts and should not casually be conflated. Compare Allan R. Stein, Forum Non Conveniens and the Redundancy of Court-Access Doctrine, 133 U.Pa.L.Rev. 781, 788-89 (1985) (distinguishing the doctrines) with Margaret G. Stewart, Forum Non Conveniens: A Doctrine in Search of a Role, 74 Cal.L.Rev. 1259 (1986) (arguing that certain factors currently considered under forum non conveniens doctrine should be subsumed under personal jurisdiction analysis). Consequently, the district court's self-proclaimed sixth factor adds nothing useful to the jurisdictional mix. 7 61 The court also adopted several other questionable positions, likely influenced by its mistaken blending of the theories of personal jurisdiction and forum non conveniens, in the course of ascertaining that the second and third gestalt factors militated against the exercise of jurisdiction. For example, the court deviated from the thrust of the second factor by centering much of its discussion on the implications of this litigation for a Canadian industry upon whom [sic] an entire population depends for electric power and on the extent to which Canada's interests dwarf those of Massachusetts. Foster-Miller, 848 F.Supp. at 277. This emphasis distorts the directive that a court pondering the second factor must mull the forum state's interest in adjudicating the dispute, Pleasant St. I, 960 F.2d at 1088. The purpose of the inquiry is not to compare the forum's interest to that of some other jurisdiction, but to determine the extent to which the forum has an interest. See, e.g., Burger King, 471 U.S. at 483 & n. 26, 105 S.Ct. at 2188 & n. 26 (flatly rejecting the notion that a non-forum state's acknowledged interest might possibly render jurisdiction in [the forum] unconstitutional  and observing that minimum-contacts analysis presupposes that two or more States may be interested in the outcome of a dispute). 62 The district court's analysis is equally awry in its treatment of the third gestalt factor (which requires an assessment of the plaintiff's interest in obtaining convenient and effective relief, Pleasant St. I, 960 F.2d at 1088). Although finding that it is more convenient for the plaintiff to litigate this matter in domestic comfort, Foster-Miller, 848 F.Supp. at 277, the court offset this finding by invoking, inter alia, a presumed inability to award plaintiff the full measure of relief that it seeks because of doubts concerning both the propriety and the efficacy of enjoining a foreign national whose presence in Massachusetts had been fleeting. Id. This concern is beside any relevant point where a plaintiff's inability to obtain certain kinds of relief is wholly a product of her own choice of forum. At any rate, the plaintiff here explicitly informed the court of its willingness to forgo injunctive relief if necessary to salvage jurisdiction. 63 We have another problem with the district court's assessment of the third gestalt factor. The court downplayed FMI's convenience because the company does business in Canada and is represented by presumably capable Canadian attorneys. Id. Putting this spin on the matter--emphasizing that the plaintiff could just as easily litigate in a Canadian court--effectively nullifies the plaintiff's choice to litigate its suit not in Canada but in Massachusetts. Though such judicial second-guessing may be proper in deciding transfer-of-venue motions or when the plaintiff's supposed convenience seems to be ... a makeweight, contrived purely for strategic advantage, courts considering jurisdictional issues generally should accord plaintiff's choice of forum a degree of deference in respect to the issue of its own convenience.... Ticketmaster, 26 F.3d at 211. So it is here. 64 We will not comment on the lower court's assessment of the first, fourth, and fifth gestalt factors. It is evident from what we have written to this point that the order of dismissal cannot plausibly rest on the existing assessment of reasonableness.