United States Third Circuit

In a lawsuit brought by bankruptcy trustees of a Dutch company asserting various claims against defendants who were allegedly responsible for the company's insolvency, judgment dismissing trustee-plaintiff's complaint on forum non-conveniens grounds is affirmed where the district court did not abuse its discretion in: 1) affording low deference to plaintiffs' choice of forum in view of Netherlands' substantial interest in resolving a dispute concerning alleged mismanagement of a Dutch company by board members and officers of that Dutch company; 2) concluding that avoiding problems in the application of foreign law favored dismissal; 3) balancing the public and private interest factors implicated in the case; and 4) determining that the convenience of litigating the dispute in New Jersey was outweighed by the oppressive or vexatious effect on defendants.

Appellate Information

• Argued 03/11/2008
• Decided 06/10/2008
• Published 06/10/2008

Judges

• Before FUENTES, CHAGARES and ALDISERT, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Third Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
• Richard McMillan, Jr., Clifton S. Elgarten (Argued), David L. Haga, Daniel W. Wolff, Crowell & Moring, LLP, Washington, D.C., Melvyn H. Bergstein, Walder, Hayden & Brogan, Roseland, NJ, for Appellants/Cross-Appellees., James P. Denvir, Jonathan Sherman (Argued), Boies, Schiller & Flexner, LLP, Washington, D.C., Thomas R. Curtin, George C. Jones, Graham Curtin, A Professional Association, Morristown, NJ, for Appellee/Cross-Appellant Qwest Communications International, Inc., Andrew T. Berry, Joseph T. Boccassini, James C. Sheil, McCarter & English, LLP, Newark, NJ, for Appellees/Cross-Appellants John A. McMaster and Robert S. Woodruff., Herbert J. Stern, Jeffrey Speiser, Joel M. Silverstein, Stern & Kilcullen, LLC, Roseland, NJ, for Appellee/Cross-Appellant Joseph P. Nacchio., Ira A. Finkelstein, Harnik Wilker & Finkelstein LLP, New York, NY, for Appellee/Cross-Appellant John A. McMaster., Jeffrey Gross, Cooley Godward Kronish LLP, New York, NY, for Appellee/Cross-Appellant Robert S. Woodruff.