Opinion ID: 1740033
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 12

Heading: dismissal of declaratory judgment action due to pending action in pennsylvania

Text: Because the remaining seven leases contained permissive forum selection clauses, the court was not required under § 25-415 to dismiss the action as to Patriot with respect to those leases, and we therefore consider whether the court erred in dismissing the action with respect to those leases for the reason that the action was pending in Pennsylvania. The golf courses assert that the district court erred when it concluded that this declaratory judgment action brought in Nebraska against Patriot should be dismissed because the action in Pennsylvania was pending at the time the golf courses filed this action. We conclude that dismissal of the action against Patriot with regard to the seven remaining leases was appropriate on this basis. We have noted that Neb.Rev. Stat. § 25-21,154 (Reissue 1995) provides that a court may refuse to render or enter a declaratory judgment or decree where such judgment or decree, if rendered or entered, would not terminate the uncertainty or controversy giving rise to the proceeding,' and we have stated that the decision whether to entertain an action for declaratory judgment is within the discretion of the trial court. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Allstate Ins. Co., 268 Neb. 439, 449, 684 N.W.2d 14, 23 (2004). In this context, we have stated that in connection with actions for declaratory judgment, `relief will not be entertained if there is pending, at the commencement of the declaratory action, another action or proceeding to which the same persons are parties and in which are involved, and may be adjudicated, the same issues involved in the declaratory action.' Id. (quoting Sim v. Comiskey, 216 Neb. 83, 341 N.W.2d 611 (1983)). This rule has been extended to situations in which an action is pending in another forum. In Woodmen of the World Life Ins. Soc. v. Yelich, 250 Neb. 345, 549 N.W.2d 172 (1996), we concluded that the trial court abused its discretion by entertaining a declaratory judgment action when an action involving the same parties and the same issues was pending in another state. We stated that where an action or proceeding is already pending in another forum involving the same issues, it is `manifestly unwise and unnecessary' to permit a new petition for declaratory relief to be initiated by the defendant or plaintiff in that action. Id. at 350-51, 549 N.W.2d at 175 (quoting Strawn v. County of Sarpy, 146 Neb. 783, 21 N.W.2d 597 (1946)). The golf courses acknowledge the district court's reliance on Yelich in dismissing this action, but they argue that dismissal was not appropriate in this case because (1) the Pennsylvania action was stayed for the purpose of allowing litigation to proceed in Nebraska and (2) the action cannot be adequately determined in Pennsylvania. With regard to the first argument, the golf courses assert that the concerns which led to the ruling in Yelich, specifically the threat of conflicting judgments in different jurisdictions, are not present here because the Pennsylvania court stayed the action to allow litigation to proceed in Nebraska. We note that the Pennsylvania court, in its order staying the action, did not fully explain the reason for its decision, and contrary to the golf courses' argument, we do not interpret the stay as a determination on the part of the Pennsylvania court that Nebraska was the more appropriate forum for this dispute. With regard to the second argument, the golf courses assert that all the issues in this dispute cannot be determined in the Pennsylvania action because the Pennsylvania courts cannot apply and interpret Nebraska law. This second argument is similar to the golf courses' argument considered above in connection with enforceability of the forum selection clauses that they could not secure effective relief in the Pennsylvania courts. We similarly reject the golf courses' argument in this context because we do not find that the Pennsylvania courts would be incapable of or prohibited from interpreting any portions of Nebraska law that might be applicable to the dispute between the golf courses and Patriot. Because an action for declaratory relief should not be entertained when another action involving the same parties and the same issues is pending, we conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion when it applied this rationale and dismissed this action as to Patriot with regard to the seven leases other than the Thornridge lease.