Opinion ID: 845766
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 13

Heading: Ease of access to sources of proof

Text: The trial court abused its discretion by focusing only on the problems existing if Michigan remained the forum for this litigation. No matter in which country this case is tried, one of the parties will be obliged to obtain documents from the other country. Given the nature of the case, a primary concern will be the design and manufacture of the Jeep. It seems likely that the majority of the documents needed will be in Michigan. Moreover, they will be in English. Therefore, if the case is tried in Croatia, the parties likely will be obliged to have thousands of highly technical documents translated into another language. Accordingly, this subfactor arguably tends to favor Wayne County as the proper forum. The majority points out that MCR 2.305 provides that documents located in Michigan can be subpoenaed for trials outside the state. It is unknown if Croatian law has a similar provision. Therefore, this fact tends to support Croatia as the proper forum. Given that there is support for both sides, this subfactor evenly favors both forums.