Opinion ID: 200365
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Motion to Transfer Venue4

Text: 8 The propriety of the venue ruling warrants little discussion. The magistrate judge fully considered and discussed CI's motion and its judgment, particularly when affirmed by the district court, is entitled to considerable deference. See Osband v. Woodford, 290 F.3d 1036, 1041 (9th Cir. 2002) (noting that magistrate judge's pretrial order is reversible by the district court, under 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(A), only if it is `clearly erroneous or contrary to law,' and that same standard applies to appellate review); Phinney v. Wentworth Douglas Hosp., 199 F.3d 1, 4 (lst Cir.1999) (same); see also Coady v. Ashcraft & Gerel, 223 F.3d 1, 11 (lst Cir.2000) (appellate standard of review for venue motion is abuse of discretion). 9 Although it may have been more efficient to determine CI's duty to defend with respect to all three Harter defendants in the same forum, we do not agree that the district court was obliged to transfer the case to Illinois. Its reasons for declining to do so were sound and appropriate, focusing on the weight accorded to plaintiff's choice of the forum in which it is located, the unlikelihood of any witness inconvenience because of the probability of a document-based determination of the duty to defend, and the absence of any compelling reason related to judicial economy. We therefore find no error in the court's denial of the transfer motion.