Court Relies Upon Doctrine of Forum Non Conveniens To Send a Case to Another State

In the case of Nwachan v. HomeGoods, Inc., July Term 2020, No. 2269 (C.P. Phila. Co. July 19, 2022 Shreeves-Johns, J.), the court issued a Rule 1925 Opinion to support its denial of a Motion for Reconsideration/Appeal relative to the court's previous granting of a Motion for Transfer of a Case from Pennsylvania to Delaware Under the Doctrine of Forum Non Conveniens.

The court held that the Motion to Transfer Under the Doctrine of Forum Non Conveniens had originally been properly granted due to the fact that the product at issue in this products liability case was purchased in Delaware and given that the Defendant company was also incorporated in Delaware.

The court additionally stated that Delaware was the appropriate forum due to the fact that relevant sources of proof were located in that state, where a Delaware Court would provide a more sufficient mechanism to compel discovery, and where all of the transactions and occurrences giving rise to the litigation had occurred in Delaware.

The court also noted that a Delaware state court was better positioned to apply its own laws and had a greater interest in hearing a case involving its own citizens.  

As such, this Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas held that it did not commit an abuse of discretion in dismissing the matter under the doctrine of forum non conveniens. The trial court requested that the appellate court to dismiss the appeal as a result.

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Source: “Digest of Recent Opinions.” Pennsylvania Law Weekly (Sept. 27, 2022).