Opinion ID: 577047
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: deference due elma's forum choice

Text: 14 While district courts ordinarily should respect an American plaintiff's forum choice, a foreign plaintiff's choice of an American forum merits less deference. Piper, 454 U.S. at 255, 102 S.Ct. at 266. ELMA did not choose the United States forum, but rather was haled into court here by the American cargo. ELMA claims, therefore, that it is entitled to the same deference owing to an American plaintiff, which deference requires that SWD prove that the balance of all relevant factors strongly favors dismissal. See In re Oil Spill by AMOCO CADIZ etc., 491 F.Supp. 170, 177 (N.D.Ill.1979), aff'd, 699 F.2d 909 (7th Cir.1983) (limitation plaintiff's choice of foreign forum balanced by fact that limitation action is defensive). 15 The district court did not set out the degree of deference that it accorded ELMA's forum choice, nor did it find that the relevant factors favor dismissal strongly. ELMA also contends that the trial court's failure to render any analysis of the degree of deference owing ELMA's forum choice is prima facie abuse of discretion. 16 Convenience is the ultimate consideration for a district court in balancing private interest factors, including the forum choice of the plaintiff. When a plaintiff chooses a foreign forum for its claims, courts are reluctant to assume that convenience motivated that choice. Piper, 454 U.S. at 255-56, 102 S.Ct. at 266. In this case, ELMA has sued SWD in a foreign forum. Of course, ELMA initially was required to defend in New York because of Drescher's limitation action. However, when ELMA filed this suit against SWD, all of the American cargo plaintiffs had settled their claims against ELMA, Drescher had been dismissed, and SUAG had yet to be joined. Unlike the plaintiff in Oil Spill, ELMA had no legal interest left in the United States forum, other than the right to assert its claims. Therefore, ELMA had a choice to file in either the Netherlands or the United States. Consequently, the district court could reasonably find that ELMA's forum choice merits less deference than that of a domestic plaintiff, particularly where ELMA had some burden to show that it chose the United States forum for the sake of convenience and not merely to obtain the benefit of favorable law. Piper, 454 U.S. at 249 & n. 15, 102 S.Ct. at 262 & n. 15. Given the district court's conclusion that private interest factors weigh against dismissal, we cannot say that the district court unreasonably failed to give special deference to ELMA's forum choice. 17 In Lony v. E.I. Du Pont de Nemours & Co., 886 F.2d 628 (3d Cir.1989) (Lony I ) the Third Circuit opined that a district court must indicate the amount of deference accorded a plaintiff's forum choice. Id. at 634. Lony I followed Third Circuit precedent in imposing this mandate. See, e.g. Lacey v. Cessna Aircraft Co., 862 F.2d 38, 45 (3d Cir.1988). But our cases have not required such specificity from the district courts. Nor do we think that the district court abused its discretion in failing to make a particular finding about the degree of deference it accorded ELMA's forum choice. The district court's order recited the analytical framework for considering SWD's motion, as set forth in Air Crash, and the court specifically noted that ELMA was a foreign party. While the district court should have supplied more explanation, we cannot say that the court failed to consider ELMA's status or abused its discretion in declining to make the desired finding. See Piper, 454 U.S. at 257, 102 S.Ct. at 266 (giving substantial deference to district court's decision that considered all relevant public and private interest factors and balanced them reasonably).