The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri recently granted HeplerBroom’s clients a dismissal of an international premise liability case under the Doctrine of Forum Non Conveniens.
The case arose out of the tragic death of a six-year old child at a fast-food franchise restaurant in Amman, Jordan. The Plaintiffs, all Jordanian citizens, filed suit in federal court in St. Louis alleging claims of negligence and wrongful death. The Plaintiffs’ venue theory was that the franchisor was based in St. Louis at the time of the child’s death and allegedly designed or provided the specifications for the playground where the child died.
The case was originally handled by another law firm. A year into the case, the client switched counsel and retained HeplerBroom (HB). As the Court noted, within a month of HB entering its appearance, HeplerBroom attorneys Glenn Davis and Charles Insler filed a motion to dismiss for forum non conveniens, arguing that both public and private factors made the United States an inconvenient forum and that the case should proceed in Jordan. The Court agreed with those arguments that Jordan was the more appropriate forum and that the motion to dismiss was not untimely. The case will now proceed in Jordan (if the Plaintiffs decide to refile). A copy of the Court’s Memorandum and Order is available A copy of the Court’s Memorandum and Order is available here.
Davis, a partner in the firm’s St. Louis office, handles complex litigation and business counseling issues in a broad range of contexts, including franchise and distribution law. He also leads HeplerBroom’s HBCyberGroup. He is a Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent Attorney and a multi-year and multi-category recipient of Best Lawyers in America’s Lawyer of the Year award.
Insler, also a partner in the firm’s St. Louis office, focuses his practice on complex commercial litigation, including class action and cybersecurity cases. He is also an accomplished writer whose works have appeared in both national and international publications.