Opinion ID: 737436
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Whether an Adequate Alternative Forum Exists.

Text: 10 As a practical matter, it makes little sense to broach the subject of forum non conveniens unless an adequate alternative forum is available to hear the case. Therefore, the first step in any forum non conveniens inquiry is to decide whether such a place exists. Piper, 454 U.S. at 254, 102 S.Ct. at 265. This is a two-part inquiry: availability and adequacy. In re Air Crash Disaster Near New Orleans, La., 821 F.2d 1147, 1165 (5th Cir.1987) (en banc), partially vacated on other grounds, 490 U.S. 1032, 109 S.Ct. 1928, 104 L.Ed.2d 400 (1989). An alternative forum is available if all parties are amenable to process and are within the forum's jurisdiction. Id. An alternative forum is adequate when the parties will not be deprived of all remedies or treated unfairly. Piper, 454 U.S. at 255, 102 S.Ct. at 265-66. 11 Kamel believes that the district court wrongly found that Saudi Arabia is an available alternative forum. He fears that Hill-Rom will not be amenable to process in Saudi Arabia and that a Saudi judgment will not be enforceable because the district court failed to attach such explicit conditions to its forum non conveniens dismissal. We disagree. As the district court indicated and we note, Hill-Rom has expressly consented to Saudi Arabia's jurisdiction. Hill-Rom also submitted the affidavit of Vernon Cassin, an expert in Saudi law. Cassin's affidavit indicated that Saudi law recognizes consents to jurisdiction, and that even without Hill-Rom's consent, Saudi law would render Hill-Rom amenable to Saudi jurisdiction. 12 Kamel also stresses that Saudi Arabia's legal remedies are so inadequate that it is not an adequate alternative forum. He maintains that the district court ignored his expert, Dr. Mujahid M. Al-Sawwaf, who stated that, of the claims brought by Kamel, Saudi Arabia only recognizes a breach of contract action. However, the district court, having concluded that Al-Sawwaf had overstated the lack of redress in Saudi courts, was more persuaded by Cassin's opinion. Cassin stated that Saudi Arabia recognizes claims for breach of contract and other claims similar to those which Kamel has alleged. A court may dismiss on forum non conveniens grounds even though the foreign forum does not provide the same range of remedies as are available in the home forum. However, the alternative forum must provide some potential avenue for redress. Ceramic Corp. of America v. Inka Maritime Corp., 1 F.3d 947, 949 (9th Cir.1993). Kamel does have a potential avenue for redress in Saudi Arabia in his breach of contract action, as even Kamel's own expert agrees. The district court simply had more faith in Hill-Rom's expert than in Kamel's. We find no abuse of discretion in the district court's threshold determination that Saudi Arabia is an adequate alternative forum. 13