Opinion ID: 461209
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Burford Abstention Doctrine

Text: 31 In dismissing Bergeron's state law claims, the federal district court in New Hampshire also alluded to the abstention doctrine set forth in Burford v. Sun Oil Co., 319 U.S. 315, 63 S.Ct. 1098, 87 L.Ed. 1424 (1943). In Burford, the Supreme Court reviewed the propriety of a district court's dismissal of an action to enjoin the execution of an order of the Texas Railroad Commission relating to the drilling and operation of certain oil wells. The Supreme Court affirmed the district court's dismissal of the action, writing, 32 The State provides a unified method for the formation of policy and determination of cases by the Commission and by the state courts. The judicial review of the Commission's decisions in the state courts is expeditious and adequate. Conflicts in the interpretation of state law, dangerous to the success of state policies, are almost certain to result from the intervention of the lower federal courts. On the other hand, if the state procedure is followed from the Commission to the State Supreme Court, ultimate review of the federal questions is fully preserved here.... Under such circumstances, a sound respect for the independence of state action requires the federal equity court to stay its hand. 33 319 U.S. at 333-34, 63 S.Ct. at 1107-08 (citation omitted). 34 In our view, the Burford abstention doctrine has no application to Bergeron's claims against the William Loeb Union Leader trust. Burford has principally been invoked in cases where the assumption of federal jurisdiction threatens to disrupt the orderly administration of state regulatory schemes, or where the plaintiff in a diversity action seeks to restrain the exercise of authority vested in state officers. See Allstate Insurance Co. v. Sabbagh, 603 F.2d 228 (1st Cir.1979); 17 C. Wright, A. Miller & E. Cooper, Federal Practice and Procedure Sec. 4244, at 485 (1978). Neither of these situations is present in the case at bar. Furthermore, we cannot say that the federal district court's determination of Bergeron's rights to the assets of the William Loeb Union Leader trust would be disruptive of state efforts to establish a coherent policy with respect to a matter of substantial public concern. Colorado River, 424 U.S. at 814, 96 S.Ct. at 1244. Last, although Bergeron's claims may present difficult or unresolved questions of state law, we have recognized that this complication, without more, does not warrant abstention where the plaintiff has properly invoked the diversity jurisdiction of the federal district court. Construction Aggregates Corp. v. Rivera de Vicenty, 573 F.2d 86, 91 (1st Cir.1978).