Opinion ID: 54041
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Adequacy and Availability of the Foreign Forum

Text: A foreign forum is available when the entire case and all the parties can come within that forum's jurisdiction. Baumgart, 981 F.2d at 835 (quoting In re Air Crash, 821 F.2d at 1164). A foreign forum is adequate when the parties will not be deprived of all remedies or treated unfairly, even though they may not enjoy the all the benefits of an American court. Id. The substantiative law of the foreign forum is presumed to be adequate unless the plaintiff makes some showing to the contrary, or unless conditions in the foreign forum made known to the court, plainly demonstrate that the plaintiff is highly unlikely to obtain basic justice there. Tjontveit v. Den Norske Bank ASA, 997 F.Supp. 799, 805 (S.D.Tex.1998) (citing Empresa Lineas Maritimas v. Schichau-Unterweser, 955 F.2d 368, 372 (5th Cir.1992)). Both parties presented experts on Mexican law. Bancomer's expert on Mexican law testified that Mexican law and judicial system are competent, fair, and adequate to address the claims in Dtex's complaint. (Docket Entry No. 61, Ex. B at 7-9). In a Mexican tort case based on the facts alleged, Dtex could pursue monetary damages for property loss, loss of business, loss of use, and other claims. ( Id. at 8). Mexico's court system would allow Dtex to bring claims for monetary damages based on the facts as alleged. ( Id. ). Dtex's expert testified that Mexican law would allow some damages, but does not recognize tortious interference with contact, interference with prospective contractual relations, or conversion. (Docket Entry No. 52 at 33). Under Mexican law, Dtex could not obtain damages for injury to reputation, operating losses, depreciation losses, equipment maintenance and security costs, attorneys' fees, or punitive damages. ( Id. ). Adequacy does not require that the alternative forum provide the same relief as an American court. A number of Fifth Circuit cases have held that Mexico is an adequate forum for litigation, despite differences in Mexican and American substantive and procedural law. See Vasquez v. Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc., 325 F.3d 665, 672 (5th Cir.2003) (finding Mexico an adequate forum despite limits on damages); Gonzalez, 301 F.3d at 383 (affirming the dismissal of suit against American automobile manufacturer on the basis of forum non conveniens in case arising from accident in Mexico); Zermeno v. McDonnell Douglas Corp., 246 F.Supp.2d 646, 659 (S.D.Tex.2003); Seguros Comercial Americas S.A. De C.V. v. American President Lines, Ltd., 933 F.Supp. 1301, 1309 (S.D.Tex.1996) (finding Mexico an adequate forum for commercial law dispute); de Aguilar v. Boeing Co., 806 F.Supp. 139 (E.D.Tex.1992) (dismissing on the basis of forum non conveniens a case involving the crash in Mexico of an American-designed and manufactured aircraft operated by a Mexican airline), aff'd, 11 F.3d 55 (5th Cir.1993). In Gonzalez, 301 F.3d at 380, a wrongful death case, the plaintiff argued that the facts that Mexican law did not recognize strict liability and capped damages at approximately $2,500 made the Mexican courts inadequate. The court found that Mexico, as a sovereign nation, has made a deliberate choice in providing a specific remedy for this tort cause of action. In making this policy choice, the Mexican government has resolved a trade-off among the competing objectives and costs of tort law. Id. at 381. It would be inappropriate  even patronizing  for us to denounce this legitimate policy choice by holding that Mexico provides an inadequate forum. Id. at 382. Similarly, the Fifth Circuit has held that the absence of a remedy for civil RICO claims does not make a foreign forum inadequate. See Kempe v. Ocean Drilling and Exploration Co., 876 F.2d 1138, 1146 (5th Cir.1989). The absence of a remedy for violating the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act also does not make a forum inadequate. See Constructora Spilimerg, C.A. v. Mitsubishi Aircraft, 700 F.2d 225, 225 (5th Cir. 1983). In this case, Mexican law may limit some categories of damages that Dtex may recover for the tortious conduct it alleges. But the record makes clear that Mexican law recognizes Dtex's claims for relief and makes significant damages available for those claims. A Mexican court has already awarded Dtex 39 million Mexican pesos in its ancillary action to recover damages sustained as a result of the stay Bancomer obtained in the Mexico City Amparo proceeding. (Docket Entry No. 46, Ex. D at 20-26). Dtex argues that the amount of damages would be more limited under Mexican as opposed to American law, not that it would have no claim or no ability to recover. Courts have consistently rejected such limits as the basis for finding Mexican courts an inadequate alternative forum. See Gonzalez, 301 F.3d 377; de Aguilar v. Boeing Co., 806 F.Supp. 139 (E.D.Tex.1992), aff'd, 11 F.3d 55 (5th Cir.1993); Zermeno v. McDonnell Douglas Corp., 246 F.Supp.2d 646 (S.D.Tex.2003). Dtex also argues that Mexico is not an adequate alternative forum because Bancomer has misused the Mexican legal system in the past by filing legal actions in bad faith and creating delays that have prejudiced Dtex and interfered with its rights in the textile equipment. Dtex asserts that conditions in the foreign forum plainly demonstrate that [Dtex is] highly unlikely to obtain basic justice in Mexico against Bancomer in this dispute. (Docket Entry No. 50 at 25). The record does not support this argument as a basis for finding the Mexican forum inadequate. Mexican tribunals have consistently ruled against Bancomer's claims to the equipment at issue. A Mexican tribunal has awarded, and Dtex has collected, millions of Mexican pesos in damages against Bancomer. Dtex has shown no evidence that the Mexican courts will treat it unfairly so as to make those courts an inadequate alternative forum. Dtex also argues that Bancomer used its political and economic power in Mexico with local police and prosecutors to cause Mexican authorities to issue totally baseless and fraudulent, but nevertheless very real and intimidating, criminal arrest warrants for Dtex's two Mexican lawyers and two of its key U.S. personnel (both of whom will be key witnesses in this case). (Docket Entry No. 50 at 25-26). The record shows that all of the criminal proceedings related to this case were dismissed in 2004. There is no evidence of any outstanding warrant or other threat to the Dtex agents' safety, preventing them from traveling to Mexico. The record shows that despite the past criminal complaints, Dtex has continued related litigation in Mexican tribunals as recently as November 2006. (Docket Entry No. 46 at 11; Docket Entry No. 61 at 2). The record also shows that Mexican tribunals, government authorities, and police repeatedly aided Dtex in its attempts to secure the equipment at issue. (Docket Entry No. 20 at 12, 13, 17, 23; Docket Entry No. 50 at 4, 5, 6, 9; Docket Entry No. 51 at 10, 15, 16, 32, 35). Dtex also points to allegations and evidence that in early 2004, Bancomer's agents attempted to bribe and threatened Dtex's Mexican attorney to induce him to drop the ancillary proceeding in which Dtex sought damages from Bancomer for the stay issued in the Mexico City Amparo proceeding. The record shows that Dtex's attorney did not drop the ancillary proceeding. Instead, the attorney pursued that claim through the 2006 appeal, obtaining and retaining a large damages award against Bancomer. This evidence does not support the argument that the Mexican courts are not an adequate alternative forum. The record evidence shows that, as a matter of law, the Mexican courts are an available and adequate forum.