EMAS, J.
In this consolidated action, Rolls Royce, Inc., Simmonds Engine Precision Products, Inc., Goodrich Pump & Engine Control Systems, Inc., and Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc. appeal the trial court's non-final order denying their motion to dismiss based upon forum non conveniens. For the reasons which follow, we reverse.
These claims arose when a helicopter, owned by the Mexican government and piloted by Oscar Garardo Posadas Garcia
The subject helicopter, a Bell Model 407, was designed and manufactured by Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc. ("Bell"). Rolls Royce, Inc. ("Rolls-Royce"), manufactured the helicopter's engine, and various sub-component parts of the engine were manufactured by Goodrich Pump & Engine Control Systems ("Goodrich") and Simmonds Engine Precision Products, Inc. ("Simmonds"). The helicopter was owned and operated by the State of Michoacan, Republic of Mexico, and was used for emergency medical services.
Plaintiffs, all of whom are represented by the same law firm, filed their complaints in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit,
Rolls-Royce filed a motion to dismiss for forum non conveniens, asserting the case should be reinstated in Mexico, the site of the crash and the home of the plaintiffs. The other defendants (Bell, Goodrich and Simmonds) joined in Rolls-Royce's motion to dismiss.
None of the defendants is incorporated in Florida, nor does any defendant maintain a principal place of business in Florida.
In response, plaintiffs argued they should not be denied their choice of forum against four United States corporations that conduct their business from the United States. Further, plaintiffs pointed out, a "significant portion" of evidence in this case is located in Florida because plaintiffs' counsel has litigated multiple other cases involving problems with the Bell 407 helicopter and there are "boxes upon boxes" of documents and deposition transcripts from those other cases located in
After a hearing,
We review the trial court's order denying a motion to dismiss for forum non conveniens under an abuse of discretion standard. Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.061(a); Rabie Cortez v. Palace Holdings, S.A., 66 So.3d 959 (Fla. 3d DCA 2011).
The Florida Supreme Court, "out of growing concern that Florida was becoming a `courthouse for the world' . . . adopted the federal forum non conveniens standard" in Kinney. Hilton Int'l Co. v. Carrillo, 971 So.2d 1001, 1004 (Fla. 3d DCA 2008). Under this standard, a trial court presented with a forum non conveniens motion must consider: 1) whether an adequate alternative forum exists which has jurisdiction over the case; 2) all relevant private interests, keeping in mind the "strong presumption against disturbing plaintiffs' initial forum choice"; 3) if the balance of private interests is in or near equipoise, whether relevant public interests tip the scale in favor of another forum; and 4) if the balance favors an alternative forum, the court must ensure that plaintiffs can bring suit in the alternative forum. Kinney, 674 So.2d at 90.
The parties agree that Mexico is both an adequate and available alternative forum.
This term "encompasses four broad `practical' concerns: adequate access
Hilton, 971 So.2d at 1007.
The instant case involves foreign plaintiffs who have no connection to Florida. The only connection to Florida is that plaintiffs' counsel is situated here and maintains in his office documents from other cases which they intend to use to establish liability in this case.
Conversely, several private interest factors weigh in favor of a Mexican forum. First, the accident occurred in Mexico. See e.g., Kerzner, 983 So.2d at 752. The accident was investigated by the Mexican Civil Aviation Authority, who has (or will) issue its investigative report at the conclusion of the investigation. This document undoubtedly will be written in Spanish. The helicopter's maintenance records, and the traffic control authority records, are in Spanish. The plaintiffs' medical records are in Spanish. All of these documents will require translation into English.
Furthermore, in addition to the fact that the plaintiffs and their family members are Mexican citizens, all the damages witnesses are located in Mexico. This includes the plaintiffs' physicians and employers, who likely speak only Spanish, and would not be subject to a Florida court's subpoena power. See § 48.193, Fla. Stat. (1995).
Noteworthy in the trial court's order is the failure to recognize that a Florida forum still would present significant expense to the parties. While the trial court correctly noted there are liability witnesses in the United States, the fact remains that there are no liability (or damages) witnesses located in Florida. Given the absence of any connection to Florida, pretrial discovery in this Florida forum would require extensive travel throughout the United States (Texas, Indiana, Connecticut), Canada, and Mexico.
In analyzing access to proof and litigation expense, the trial court focused on the boxes of documents plaintiffs have acquired in similar but unrelated lawsuits, and the expense of translating these documents into Spanish. In doing so, the trial court assumed, but did not determine, the admissibility of these documents at a trial of this cause. Moreover, the expense associated with translation of these documents
We conclude that the trial court abused its discretion in its determination that the private interests weighed in favor of a Florida forum. On balance, the factors of convenience, access, proof, and expense, weigh in favor of a Mexican forum. Even if we were to conclude that the private interest factors are at or near equipoise, consideration of Kinney's third factor (public interests) unquestionably tips the scales in favor of another forum.
"In broad terms, th[is] inquiry focuses on `whether the case has a general nexus with the forum sufficient to justify the forum's commitment of judicial time and resources to it.'" Kinney, 674 So.2d at 92. The trial court found that the public interest factors in this case also support a denial of the motion to dismiss. The court's conclusion, however, was not based upon any connection the case has with Florida, but instead, its connection with other parts of the United States. The trial court found that because the defendants "refused" to transfer the case to another state with a connection to this case, "it does not seem unreasonable to aggregate all U.S. contacts as the Court would do were this a federal case." That conclusion, however, ignores this Court's precedent. See Pearl Cruises v. Cohon, 728 So.2d 1226, 1228 (Fla. 3d DCA 1999) (finding plaintiff's contention that a Florida court must aggregate all of a lawsuit's U.S. contacts in deciding whether to grant a motion to dismiss for forum non conveniens "is without merit"); Kerzner, 983 So.2d at 752 ("Florida courts, unlike federal courts, are permitted to consider only the contacts that a lawsuit has with the State of Florida, not with the United States as a whole.").
Therefore, a trial court must consider the connection a particular case has with the forum, which in this case is Florida. See Kerzner, 983 So.2d at 752 ("We look to Florida's connection to, and its interest in, the case."); Kawasaki, 899 So.2d at 412 (reversing denial of motion to dismiss where there was "practically no connection to Florida" and holding the public interest will be better served by transferring the case to Illinois, where plaintiffs reside or to Jamaica, where the incident occurred).
We find that the trial court erred in aggregating all United States contacts, and in its erroneous determination that the public interests favored a Florida forum. Indeed, it is clear from the record in this case that this lawsuit has no connection with the state of Florida, save for plaintiffs' choice of counsel and counsel's collection of documentation from similar but unrelated lawsuits.
As was recognized by our high court in Kinney: "Nothing in our Constitution compels the taxpayers to spend their money even for the rankest forum shopping by out-of-state interests." Kinney, 674 So.2d at 93. The trial court abused its discretion in denying defendants' motion to dismiss for forum non conveniens.