Opinion ID: 4196342
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The inconvenience of the federal forum.

Text: In Colorado River, the Court noted the inconvenience of the 300-mile distance between the state and federal court as 12 MONTANORE MINERALS V. BAKIE a factor favoring dismissal. 424 U.S. at 820. Montanore filed the state court action in Libby, Montana, and the federal district court action about 200 miles away, in Missoula, Montana. On appeal, Defendants argue that this factor favors a stay, but in their district court brief they acknowledged that “neither forum has a significant advantage as to convenience.” Accordingly, we treat this factor as neutral in our analysis. Accord Madonna, 914 F.2d at 1368 (“Although 200 miles is a fair distance, it is not sufficiently great that this factor points toward abstention. The district court did not err in finding this factor ‘unhelpful.’”).