Opinion ID: 75793
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The District Court's Erie Decision

Text: 15 A few months after the district court ruled in favor of the Bestors on the forum non conveniens issue, the Cohons and the Esfelds filed separate federal lawsuits against Costa. Chief Judge Davis having retired from the bench, the Bestors' case was transferred and consolidated with the Cohons' and the Esfelds' cases before Judge Shelby Highsmith. As it had done with respect to the Bestors' lawsuit, Costa moved to dismiss the lawsuits filed by the Cohons and the Esfelds. Like in the Bestors' case, Costa alleged, among other things, that the lawsuits should be dismissed on collateral estoppel or forum non conveniens grounds. 16 The district court, pursuant to Chief Judge Davis's reasoning and the law of the case doctrine, rejected Costa's collateral estoppel and forum non conveniens arguments. Other bases for dismissal raised by Costa were rejected as well. The court, however, then proceeded to raise a new issue sua sponte, without benefit of briefs or argument from the parties. Specifically, the district court addressed whether, under the Erie doctrine, federal or state law on forum non conveniens should apply in diversity cases. As part of its analysis, the court noted that a vast majority of the other federal circuit courts of appeal that have addressed the Erie issue have concluded that federal law on forum non conveniens should apply in the diversity context. 8 The district court noted, furthermore, that in the diversity case of Sibaja v. Dow Chemical Co., 757 F.2d 1215 (11th Cir.1985), we specifically held that federal law on forum non conveniens was applicable. Nevertheless, the court distinguished the existing case law and concluded that state law should apply in the present litigation. 17 Concluding that state law should apply, the district court consequently found that Chief Judge Davis had erred by not applying Florida law on forum non conveniens. The court then turned to the two prior decisions by Florida's Third District dismissing the Appellants' cases. Based on these decisions, the district court held that it was clear that the Appellants' suits should be dismissed under Florida forum non conveniens law. Accordingly, the court dismissed the Appellants' suits without prejudice to their refiling in an appropriate forum (i.e., the courts of Italy, Vietnam, or Plaintiffs respective home states). R2-52-20. It is this dismissal that the Appellants now challenge.