FEDERAL PROCEDURE-CHANGE OF VENUE-CONGESTION OF DOCKET AS A FACTOR AFFECTING TRANSFER UNDER SECTION 1404(a)

Authors

Peter Van Domelen S.Ed., University of Michigan Law SchoolFollow

Abstract

Plaintiff sued in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York to recover damages under the Jones Act for illness sustained while he was serving as a seaman on the defendant's steamship. The defendant moved to transfer the action to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California pursuant to Title 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a) which provides: "For the convenience of parties and witnesses, in the interest of justice, a district court may transfer any civil action to any other district or division where it might have been brought." Evidence introduced showed that the defendant was a California corporation with its principal offices in San Francisco where its shipping records were maintained, that the plaintiff was also a resident of California, and that 36 of the 43 potential witnesses for both parties were also from California. The court also took into consideration the congested condition of its own trial calendar. Statistics showed that, while the median time required in the California district from the time of filing to disposition of normal civil cases in which a trial was held was 11 months; in the New York district it was 35.4 months, the maximum. The median interval from issue to trial in the California district was 5.7 months; in the New York district it was 28.5 months, again the maximum. Transfer ordered. The convenience of the parties and witnesses and the prompt and efficient administration of justice require transfer of this case. Ortiz v. Union Oil Co. of California, (D.C. N.Y. 1952) 102 F. Supp. 492.

Recommended Citation

Peter Van Domelen S.Ed., FEDERAL PROCEDURE-CHANGE OF VENUE-CONGESTION OF DOCKET AS A FACTOR AFFECTING TRANSFER UNDER SECTION 1404(a), 51 Mich. L. Rev. 298 (1952).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol51/iss2/13