United States Ninth Circuit

In an action arising out of an allegedly fraudulent business venture, dismissal of the complaint on forum non conveniens grounds is reversed where: 1) the parties could seek relevant documents in Slovakia through procedures for international third-party discovery; 2) the fact that defendant might be unable to implead alleged joint tortfeasors in California was by no means determinative of the forum non conveniens inquiry; and 3) defendant, in asking for the extraordinary measure of dismissal on forum non conveniens grounds, needed to provide not simply the numbers of witnesses in each locale, but information sufficient to assist the court in assessing the "materiality and importance" of each witness.

Appellate Information

• Argued 10/08/2009
• Decided 12/09/2009
• Published 12/09/2009

Judges

• WALLACE, Senior Circuit Judge:, Before:  J. CLIFFORD WALLACE, DAVID R. THOMPSON, and SIDNEY R. THOMAS, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Steven M. Cowley, Esq., Boston, MA, for plaintiffs-appellants Boston Telecommunications Group, Inc. and Roderick Marshall.


• For Appellees:
  
• Susan K. Jamison, Esq., San Francisco, CA, for defendant-appellee Robert Wood.