Piper Aircraft Co. v. Reyno
- Decided
- January 25, 1982
- Docket
- 80-848
- Status
- Published
- Jurisdiction
- Federal
Cited 4,581 timesNo negative treatment found in this library
What later courts said
- holding that inability to implead third-party defendants in federal court supported having trial in Scotland — Jayne Reid-Walen, Gary Walen v. Leroy Hansen, Irene Hansen, D/B/A Yellow Bird Sea-Tel (1991)
- holding that unfavorable change in forum law is insufficient to preclude forum non conveniens dismissal — George E. Mercier and Susan Y. Mercier v. Sheraton International, Inc., A/K/A Itt-Sheraton International, Inc. (1992)
- holding that affidavits describing evi-dentiary problems defendants would face if trial held in United States were sufficient — Vinmar Trade Finance, Ltd. v. Utility Trailers De Mexico, S.A. De C.V. (2010)
Each line is a later court’s own words about this case, not a summary. Read the opinion before relying on it.
How the opinion begins
Justice Marshall delivered the opinion of the Court.
These cases arise out of an air crash that took place in Scotland. Respondent, acting as representative of the estates of several Scottish citizens killed in the accident, brought wrongful-death actions against petitioners that were ultimately transferred to the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. Petitioners moved to dismiss on the ground of forum non conveniens. After noting that an alternative forum existed in Scotland, the District Court granted their motions. 479 F. Supp. 727 (1979). The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit reversed. 630 F. 2d 149 (1980). The Court of Appeals based its decision, at least in part, on the ground that dismissal is automatically barred where the law of the alternative forum is less favorable to the plaintiff than the law of the forum chosen by the plaintiff. Because we conclude that the possibility of an unfavorable change in law should not, by itself, bar dismissal, and because we conclude that the District Court did not otherwise abuse its discretion, we reverse.
I
Statutes cited
Cite this
Piper Aircraft Co. v. Reyno, 454 U.S. 235 (1982)Read the full opinion
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