Court Opinion

ID: 9745350
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 22:50:39.962969+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:26:21.910210
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE MORAN, specially concurring: The equitable doctrine of forum non conveniens is “founded in considerations of fundamental fairness and sensible and effective judicial administration.” (Adkins v. Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific R.R. Co. (1973), 54 Ill. 2d 511, 514.) The doctrine presupposes that some plaintiffs will file suit in a forum which is inconvenient for the parties in an effort to “seek not simply justice but perhaps justice blended with some harassment.” (Gulf Oil Corp. v. Gilbert (1947), 330 U.S. 501, 507, 91 L. Ed. 1055, 1062, 67 S. Ct. 839, 842.) Fairness and sensible judicial administration dictate that an action should not be tried in a forum having a tenuous connection to the cause of action. As such, the doctrine invests trial courts with wide discretion to decline jurisdiction whenever they determine that a particular action may be more conveniently tried in another forum. Moore v. Chicago & North Western Transportation Co. (1983), 99 Ill. 2d 73, 76. Nevertheless, as today’s opinion points out, it is equally unfair for a court to decline jurisdiction on the basis of forum non conveniens after a case has been pending before it for a significant period of time. By that time, the parties and the court have expended considerable effort, time and money. Considerations of fairness and sensible administration require that motions to dismiss based on the forum non conveniens doctrine should be timely filed. I therefore agree that a defendant’s delay in requesting a court to decline jurisdiction on the basis of forum non conveniens should be one of the many factors considered by it in determining whether to grant or deny the motion. I also concur in the result reached today in these two cases. I write separatély, however, to express concern with the majority’s decision not to set a specific time in which a defendant must ask the court to decline jurisdiction on the basis of forum non conveniens. The majority’s reluctance to establish a per se rule is understandable. Whether it is “fair” or “sensible” to dismiss a case often turns on its particular facts and circumstances. Nevertheless, I believe that today’s decision provides no guidance whatsoever to trial courts or parties. As such, defendants will be placed in a precarious situation. They have no indication as to how much of a delay will be fatal to their success. This is particularly troublesome in light of the fact that defendants must conduct some discovery before they can determine whether a motion based on the forum non conveniens doctrine is appropriate. (See 106 Ill. 2d at 146-47; Grant v. Starck (1981), 96 Ill. App. 3d 297, 300; McDonald’s Corp. v. Smargon (1975), 31 Ill. App. 3d 493, 499.) Thus, some delay is inevitable. Instead of proposing a per se waiver rule, I suggest that the problem with delay can in many cases be managed by the trial court. A defendant, in many instances, can determine from the face of plaintiff’s complaint whether a forum non conveniens issue might exist. Thus the defendant, at the time of filing his answer, could also file a notice of his intent to file a motion to dismiss based on forum non conveniens. At that time, the trial court, after considering the circumstances of the particular case, could set a date certain in which the defendant had to file the motion. The date could be extended for good cause shown by the defendant. This procedure would allow defendants to safely conduct discovery before raising the motion and ensure that the motion was not only timely filed but sufficiently informative of the factual basis. In addition, I disagree with my colleagues’ decision to apply the new rule announced today retrospectively. In the past, this court has provided for the prospective application of new rules of law where “retrospective application of our decision may result in great hardship” to a class of individuals who have relied on our previous decisions. (Molitor v. Kaneland Community Unit District No. 302 (1959), 18 Ill. 2d 11, 26; see, e.g., Alvis v. Ribar (1981), 85 Ill. 2d 1, 28-29; Skinner v. Reed-Prentice Division Package Machinery Co. (1978), 70 Ill. 2d 1, 16-17; Renslow v. Mennonite Hospital (1977), 67 Ill. 2d 348, 359.) Today’s opinion is a departure from our previous decisions on forum non conveniens. Indeed, the majority opinion concedes that under our previous decisions the defendant’s forum non conveniens motions should have been allowed and the cases dismissed. (106 Ill. 2d at 142-43.) The new rule of law announced today will certainly work a hardship on those defendants who have relied on the previous opinions of this court. In this court alone, there are 28 petitions for leave to appeal on this issue. By refusing to apply this new rule prospectively, countless defendants will be forced to litigate in an inconvenient forum because of the new rule of law adopted today. I would hold that this new rule applies to these two cases and all lawsuits filed in the circuit court after the decision here becomes final.