United States Eleventh Circuit

In a wrongful death action brought by survivors of passengers killed in a plane crash, dismissal of the action on forum non conveniens grounds in favor of litigation in Martinique is affirmed where: 1) the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air did not bar dismissal on forum non conveniens grounds because there was no ambiguity or limitation in the express language of Article 33(4) of the Convention, which stated in no uncertain terms that questions of procedure -- which could only reasonably be read to include all questions of procedure -- are governed by the rules of the forum state; and 2) with respect to the availability of evidence and witnesses, the analysis strongly favored Martinique, the residence of all the plaintiffs.

Appellate Information

• Decided 10/08/2009
• Published 10/08/2009

Judges

• BARKETT, Circuit Judge:, Before BARKETT and HULL, Circuit Judges, and QUIST, District Judge.

Court

• United States Eleventh Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Donald L. McCune, Jr., Mary Schiavo, Motley Rice, LLC, Mt. Pleasant, SC, Lexi Hazam, Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein, San Francisco, CA, Jorge Emilio Silva, Silva & Silva, Coral Gables, FL, Philip D. Parrish, Phillip D. Parrish, P.A., South Miami, FL, for Appellants., Thomas M. Bondy, Douglas N. Letter, Sharon Swingle, U.S. Dept. of Justice, Civ. Div., App. Staff, Washington, DC, for Amici Curiae, U.S.


• For Appellees:
  
• Alan I. Mendelsohn, Donald J. Kassilke, Sher & Blackwell, LLP, Washington, DC, Joseph Thompson Thornton, Beverly D. Eisenstadt, Thornton, Davis & Fein, PA, Miami, FL, John Shelton Penton, Jr., Cole, Scott & Kissane, P.A., West Palm Beach, FL, Henry M. Knoblock, Stephen Coxhead, Knoblock, Dohner, Kim & Copeland, South Miami, FL, for Appellees.