The forum non conveniens doctrine provides federal district courts with broad discretion to dismiss otherwise viable actions, in particular those brought by non-U.S. residents.1 In recent years, judges across the country have used this power to effectively shut many foreign victims of aviation disasters out of U.S. courts. On occasion, even American citizens killed in foreign disasters have been told to pursue their claims against U.S. defendants in other countries far from home. This trend is seen most clearly in the federal courts, with some state courts, most notably those in Illinois, bucking the trend.
The forum non conveniens doctrine calls on courts to conduct a two-part inquiry. The first step is to determine whether an available alternative forum exists for the action. If there is such a forum, the court must weigh various private and public interest factors to determine whether the case should be dismissed.
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