Boston Telecomms. Group, Inc. v. Wood, No. 08-16358

In an action arising out of an allegedly fraudulent business venture, dismissal of the complaint on forum non conveniens grounds is reversed where: 1) the parties could seek relevant documents in Slovakia through procedures for international third-party discovery; 2) the fact that defendant might be unable to implead alleged joint tortfeasors in California was by no means determinative of the forum non conveniens inquiry; and 3) defendant, in asking for the extraordinary measure of dismissal on forum non conveniens grounds, needed to provide not simply the numbers of witnesses in each locale, but information sufficient to assist the court in assessing the "materiality and importance" of each witness.

Read Boston Telecomms. Group, Inc. v. Wood, No. 08-16358

Appellate Information

Argued and Submitted October 8, 2009

Filed December 9, 2009

Judges

Opinion by Judge Wallace

Counsel

For Appellants:

Steven M. Cowley, Boston, MA

For Appellee:

Roderick Marshall and Susan K. Jamison, San Francisco, CA