In the case of Moody v. Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest, No. 3580 EDA 2016 (Pa.
Super. Jan. 18, 2018 Bowes, J. Lazarus, J. and Blatt, J.) (Op. by Bowes, J.),
the Superior Court found that the trial court applied the wrong legal standard
in applying the doctrine of Forum Non
Conveniens.
This Opinion provides a nice overview of the current status
of the law supporting doctrine of Forum
Non Conveniens.
The court in Moody
held that multiple medical malpractice Defendants may be sued in any county
where venue is proper against any one Defendant, subject to the doctrine of Forum Non Conveniens.
Here, the court found that the claims asserted by the
Plaintiff against one Philadelphia Defendant were not fabricated such that the claims against the Defendant in the Plaintiff’s chosen
venue were not incidental or tangential.
The court otherwise noted that the fact that all but one of
the Defendants were in a different county was not controlling on the issues
presented.
The Superior Court additionally noted that the trial should
not have decided the Motion for Transfer of Venue under the doctrine of Forum Non Conveniens without allowing
additional discovery to be secured from most of the Defendants.
Anyone wishing to review a copy of this decision may click
this LINK.
I send thanks to Attorney James M. Beck of the Philadelphia
office of the law firm of Reed Smith for bringing this case to my attention.
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