Court Opinion

ID: 9565884
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 19:29:34.846576+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:19:10.356175
License: Public Domain

Utter, J.
(concurring)—I write separately to emphasize that the civil rules do not sanction international bifurcation of cases. Because of this, the trial court's decision to bifurcate this case was an abuse of discretion. Because the parties did not complete pretrial discovery or try the case, this error cannot justify overruling the trial court's decision to dismiss the action. I agree that forum non conveniens principles justify the trial court's dismissal of the Japanese plaintiffs' case, in spite of the bifurcation error, and would affirm the trial court on that basis only.
Bifurcation under CR 42(b) applies to cases within a jurisdiction. The trial court in this case ruled sua sponte that the liability issue and the damage issue should be bifurcated. Majority, at 126. The court ruled that the issue of liability would be determined in this jurisdiction, but delayed resolution of the question of where damages would be determined. Clerk's Papers, at 963-76. The court dismissed the plaintiffs' Consumer Protection Act claims, but entered judgment against Boeing on the issue of compensatory damages, relying on Boeing's admissions. The court then dismissed the claims of the Japanese nationals on forum non conveniens grounds.
Civil Rule 42(b) authorizes bifurcation in these words:
The court . . . may order a separate trial of . . . any separate issue . . . always preserving inviolate the right of trial by jury.
(Italics mine.) The rule only authorizes trials which a court can order. A superior court judge cannot order a trial in Japan. Japan is a sovereign nation. Thus, this rule cannot *145authorize bifurcation between sovereign states. Of the hundreds of reported cases applying this rule and its federal equivalent, Fed. R. Civ. P. 42(b), the parties have identified only one case involving bifurcation between jurisdictions. See Radigan v. Innisbrook Resort & Golf Club, 150 N.J. Super. 427, 375 A.2d 1229 (1977) (overruling trial court order transferring litigation of liability to Florida while trying the damages portion of the action in New Jersey). As the majority points out, the New Jersey court doubted the validity of interjurisdictional bifurcation. Majority, at 142. It did not address the question in general terms, however. Instead, it held that the particular use of bifurcation in that case was an abuse of discretion. Majority, at 142.
The advisory committee on civil rules, which helped create the federal counterpart to CR 42, said that bifurcation should " 'be encouraged where experience has demonstrated its worth". 9 C. Wright & A. Miller, Federal Practice § 2390, at 300 (1971). International bifurcation of liability and damage questions has apparently never been tried, let alone demonstrated worthy.
No statute or court rule authorizes transfer of single issues between jurisdictions. See Cray v. General Motors Corp., 389 Mich. 382, 207 N.W.2d 393 (1973) (noting that no administrative machinery exists to transfer cases between states); see also 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a) (1988) (authorizing transfer of cases between federal courts). Generally, complex litigation requires that the matter be handled by one judge, not by multiple jurisdictions. See 1 J. Moore, Federal Practice § 20.12 (2d ed. 1986) (complex litigation should ordinarily be assigned to one judge for all purposes, including pretrial proceedings).
An examination of the record here shows why bifurcation between jurisdictions should be disfavored. The affidavits submitted to the trial court by experts on Japanese law disagreed about whether a Japanese court would consider the judgment made as to liability a final one to be given res judicata effect in Japan. Accordingly, the trial court made no finding of fact as to the res judicata issue. Moreover, *146because solatium depends in some measure on the degree of culpability, the liability judgment may not be sufficient to allow the Japanese court to determine damages. Although the record establishes that the Japanese judiciary can fairly try the case and award full compensation, it does not establish that it will avoid duplication of the effort already expended here.
Piecemeal international litigation raises the possibility not just of separate trials, but of two sets of appeals and international judicial conflict in the resolution of one case. This court has stated that bifurcation under CR 42 "should be carefully and cautiously applied" and used only to promote convenience or avoid prejudice. Brown v. General Motors Corp., 67 Wn.2d 278, 282, 407 P.2d 461 (1965). Most importantly, this court has stated that " [pjiecemeal litigation is not to be encouraged", especially where the issues of liability and damages are interwoven in a personal injury case. Brown, 67 Wn.2d at 282.
This court upheld bifurcation in Brown because the court was satisfied that "the issues of liability and damages were singularly separable and distinct". Brown, at 283. In this case, however, a component of damages under Japanese law, called solatium, may depend, in part, on the degree of culpability of the defendant. See Clerk's Papers, at 2120-21, 1607-09.11 Where culpability and damages are interwoven, bifurcation is not appropriate even when both trials are held in one forum. See United Air Lines, Inc. v. Wiener, 286 F.2d 302 (9th Cir.) (reversing trial court order bifurcating a trial when exemplary damages are sought), cert. denied, 366 U.S. 924 (1961).
*147I would hold, therefore, that bifurcation is an abuse of discretion absent a determination that the trials will be held in one jurisdiction. Because no trial was actually held here and discovery as to liability was not completed,12 the error in bifurcation cannot justify overruling the trial court's forum non conveniens determination. Cf. Gates Learjet Corp. v. Jensen, 743 F.2d 1325, 1335 (9th Cir. 1984) (overturning District Court's forum non conveniens dismissal because the court failed to consider that discovery had been completed and the parties were ready for trial), cert. denied, 471 U.S. 1066 (1985). The trial court rulings may cause a trial in Japan, but they did not create two trials in different jurisdictions. The result obtained was not different from that of a number of other cases in which defendants have agreed not to contest liability abroad. Pain v. United Technologies Corp., 637 F.2d 775 (D.C. Cir. 1980), cert. denied, 454 U.S. 1128 (1981); In re Disaster at Riyadh Airport, 540 F. Supp. 1141 (D.D.C. 1982); Jennings v. Boeing Co., 660 F. Supp. 796 (E.D. Pa.), amended, 677 F. Supp. 803 (1987), aff'd, 838 F.2d 1206 (3d Cir. 1988); Bouvy-Loggers v. Pan Am. World Airways, Inc., 15 Av. Cas. 17,153 (S.D.N.Y. 1978). While the courts in some of these cases have considered the location of evidence as to liability in making their forum non conveniens inquiry, see Pain, 637 F.2d at 786-87; Riyadh Airport, 540 F. Supp. at 1146-47, other courts have not. See Jennings, 660 F. Supp. at 805; Bouvy-Loggers, 15 Av. Cas. at 17,154. We cannot conclude that the trial court abused its discretion because it considered the location of evidence as to liability irrelevant once Boeing had conceded liability. See In re Air Crash Disaster Near New Orleans, La., 821 F.2d 1147, 1166 (5th Cir. 1987) (court should consider effect of stipulations, discovery, admissions, and the joinder of parties at the time *148motion is filed in deciding whether to dismiss on forum non conveniens grounds), vacated on other grounds sub nom. Pan Am. World Airways, Inc. v. Lopez, 109 S. Ct. 1928, vacated in part, aff'd in part on remand, 883 F.2d 17 (5th Cir. 1989).
The majority correctly reaffirms our holding that the trial court may only disturb the plaintiffs' choice of forum if the balance of factors strongly favors the defendant. Majority, at 135-39; Johnson v. Spider Staging Corp., 87 Wn.2d 577, 579-80, 555 P.2d 997 (1976) (citing Gulf Oil Corp. v. Gilbert, 330 U.S. 501, 508, 91 L. Ed. 1055, 67 S. Ct. 839 (1947)). Given the findings of the trial court, we cannot conclude that it abused its discretion in deciding to disturb the plaintiffs' choice in this case. The trial court's bifurcation decision, however, was an abuse of discretion and we should so hold.

The plaintiffs conceded that Boeing's apparent willingness to concede liability made solatium unimportant as a factor differentiating Japanese law from Washington law for purposes of choosing the applicable law. Clerk's Papers, at 1383. The trial court did not even consider the question of whether the liability determination and the damages question would be interconnected when it bifurcated the case sua sponte. This failure alone warrants the conclusion that the decision was an abuse of discretion.

The record shows that the plaintiffs sought discovery on questions relating to liability, but Boeing resisted. The trial court stayed discovery pending resolution of the forum non conveniens motion. Most of the discovery which occurred concerned the location of witnesses and other matters relevant to the forum non conveniens determination.