CIVIL PROCEDURE-VENUE-FORUM NON CONVENIENS-APPLICATION OF DOCTRINE BY STATE COURT IN CASE ARISING UNDER FEDERAL EMPLOYERS' LIABILITY ACT

Authors

Nancy J. Ringland S.Ed., University of Michigan Law SchoolFollow

Abstract

Two suits based on the Federal Employers' Liability Act were brought in the Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis, Missouri. In both cases, plaintiff was not a Missouri resident, the defendant carrier was a foreign corporation, and the cause of action arose outside the state of Missouri. A motion to dismiss on the ground of forum non conveniens was denied as beyond the jurisdiction of the court, and mandamus proceedings were begun in the Supreme Court of Missouri to compel the trial court to exercise its discretion in disposing of the motions. The writs were quashed by the Missouri Supreme Court and the consolidated causes brought to the United States Supreme Court on certiorari. Held, judgment vacated, because of the possibility that the Missouri court considered itself bound to reject the doctrine of forum non conveniens in cases arising under the Federal Employers' Liability Act, by force of previous Supreme Court decisions which did not, in fact, limit the power of the state court in this respect. Missouri v. Mayfield, (U.S. 1950) 71 S. Ct. 1.

Recommended Citation

Nancy J. Ringland S.Ed., CIVIL PROCEDURE-VENUE-FORUM NON CONVENIENS-APPLICATION OF DOCTRINE BY STATE COURT IN CASE ARISING UNDER FEDERAL EMPLOYERS' LIABILITY ACT, 49 Mich. L. Rev. 1061 (1951).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol49/iss7/8