Opinion ID: 6325128
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Available Alternative Forum

Text: The availability of an alternative forum is a two-part inquiry examining both availability and adequacy. Deb, 832 F.3d at 807; In re Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc., 420 F.3d 702, 704 (7th Cir. 2005). Zimmer Biomet consented to service of process and personal jurisdiction in Mexico, which satisfies availability. Deb, 832 F.3d at 807; Fischer, 777 F.3d at 867. At oral No. 21-1224 7 argument, IMSS conceded Mexican courts constitute an available forum, so we spend no more time on that issue here. An alternative forum is adequate where “the parties will not be deprived of all remedies or treated unfairly.” Deb, 832 F.3d at 807; Fischer, 777 F.3d at 867. An alternative forum is inadequate only where “the remedy provided” is “so clearly inadequate or unsatisfactory that it is no remedy at all.” Piper Aircraft Co., 454 U.S. at 254; see also Fischer, 777 F.3d at 866. Even where “the relief [is] not [ ] as comprehensive or as favorable as a plaintiff might obtain in an American court,” the alternative forum is still adequate. Chang, 599 F.3d at 736 (quoting Stroitelstvo, 589 F.3d at 421). IMSS claims Mexican courts are inadequate based on their unwillingness to “address the responsibility of foreign parents of Mexican agents” and less fulsome discovery procedures. Notably, IMSS does not assert a remedy is impossible in Mexican courts, merely that it is less likely. First, it would be odd to subject Zimmer Biomet to litigation in an inconvenient forum merely to increase the chances it will lose on the merits. See Chang, 599 F.3d at 736. Second, and more damning to IMSS’s argument, differences in law between forums “should ordinarily not be given conclusive or even substantial weight in the forum non conveniens inquiry.” Piper Aircraft Co., 454 U.S. at 247. A forum is not inadequate merely because its law is less favorable to the plaintiff. Deb, 832 F.3d at 807; Abad, 563 F.3d at 667. Indeed, two of IMSS’s causes of action arise under Mexican law and, according to IMSS’s own complaint, the remedy for the third is identical in the United States and Mexico. There is no risk IMSS will be wholly deprived of a remedy by litigating in Mexican courts. 8 No. 21-1224