Opinion ID: 781969
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Standard Used

Text: 19 It is familiar law that a plaintiff's choice of forum is entitled to substantial deference. As explained in Iragorri, when reviewing a motion to dismiss for forum non conveniens there is an assumption that the plaintiff's choice of forum will stand unless the defendant can demonstrate that reasons exist to afford it less deference. 274 F.3d at 70-71. In fact, unless the balance is strongly in favor of the defendant, the plaintiff's choice of forum should rarely be disturbed. Gilbert, 330 U.S. at 508, 67 S.Ct. 839. 20 Nonetheless, circumstances may alter the degree of deference given a plaintiff's forum choice. For example, when a plaintiff sues in his home forum, that choice is generally entitled to great deference, Koster v. (Am.) Lumbermens Mut. Cas. Co., 330 U.S. 518, 524, 67 S.Ct. 828, 91 L.Ed. 1067 (1947), because it is presumed to be convenient. See Piper Aircraft, 454 U.S. at 255-56, 102 S.Ct. 252. In contrast, when a foreign plaintiff sues in a United States forum such choice is entitled to less deference because one may not easily presume that choice is convenient. Id. at 256, 102 S.Ct. 252. In such circumstances, it is more likely that forum-shopping for a higher damage award or for some other litigation advantage was the motivation for plaintiff's selection. Even absent those forum-shopping considerations, there still is no reason to assume a U.S. forum is convenient for a foreign plaintiff's suit. As Iragorri sought to make clear, the degree of deference assigned to plaintiff's choice depends on the specific facts of the case and may be viewed as operating along a sliding scale 21 The more it appears that a domestic or foreign plaintiff's choice of forum has been dictated by reasons that the law recognizes as valid, the greater the deference that will be given to the plaintiff's forum choice.... [T]he greater the plaintiff's or the lawsuit's bona fide connection to the United States and to the forum of choice and the more it appears that considerations of convenience favor the conduct of the lawsuit in the United States, the more difficult it will be for the defendant to gain dismissal for forum non conveniens. 22 274 F.3d at 71-72. Absent proof that plaintiff's choice of a U.S. forum was motivated by forum-shopping reasons, factors relating to convenience or expense generally weigh heavily in favor of the plaintiff's choice. 23 Although at the time of its decision the district court did not have the benefit of our Iragorri decision, its analysis on the proper degree of deference to be afforded plaintiffs' choice of forum is consistent with the standards set out in that case. Judge Wood began her deference analysis by noting that she must give deference to the plaintiff's choice of forum and that the appropriate level of deference depended on the plaintiffs' relationship with the Southern District of New York. She recognized that a choice of home forum by an American citizen is given substantial deference, while a foreign plaintiff's choice of a United States forum typically is given less deference. 24 Applying these standards to appellants' choice, the district court assumed, arguendo, that because of a treaty with Liberia granting access to United States courts, plaintiffs' choice of a United States forum was entitled to the same deference as that of United States citizens. Yet, because the level of deference given to a plaintiff's choice of forum depends on the bona fide connection the plaintiff has with that forum, see DiRienzo v. Philip Servs. Corp., 294 F.3d 21, 28 (2d Cir.2002), the district court noted that plaintiffs are not residents of the United States and have no connections — other than wire transfers, faxes and the involvement of Chase officials in the sales of the GKO Notes — with the Southern District of New York. Accordingly, it ruled that their choice of forum was not entitled to particularly strong deference. In other words, it was given a lesser degree of deference. An analogy may give that notion more definition: were plaintiffs to have claimed a family relationship with their chosen forum of New York, it could not be said — in light of the wire transfers, faxes and involvement in the sale of Notes there — that there is no relationship at all. But the faint family relationship plaintiffs have to the Southern District of New York in the present case is akin to that of a distant cousin who enjoys only a lesser degree of family relationship.