Venue Flashcards
Transfer of venue
To transfer venue, the court must determine whether venue has been properly laid, and, if so, whether any basis for transfer of venue exists
Venue generally
Under 28 USC section 1441(a), when a case is removed from state court to federal court, venue is set in the federal district court that embraces the state court in which the action was pending.
Forum selection clause and venue
Under the venue statutes, when venue in the original action is proper, the federal court, in the interests of justice, may transfer the case for the convenience of the parties and witnesses to another venue in which the action might have been brought (considering the rules for venue, personal jurisdiction, and subject matter jurisdiction) or to which the parties have consented. When the parties have agreed to a valid forum selection clause, a district court should ordinarily transfer the case to the forum specified in that clause. Only under extraordinary circumstances unrelated to the convenience of the parties should a section 1404(a) motion be denied when there is a valid forum selection clause; that is, only public interest factors will be considered. Public interest factors include (i) what law applies; (ii) what community should be burdened with jury service; and (iii) desire to keep local action local. Public interest factors will rarely oust the parties’ choice of forum in a forum selection clause.
Where is venue proper?
Venue is proper in the judicial district where any defendant resides, if all reside in the same state, or where a substantial part of the acts or omissions in the case occurred. If there is no district anywhere in the US that satisfies the above, the action may be brought in a judicial district in which any defendant is subject to the court’s personal jurisdiction with respect to such action.
Law applicable after venue transfer
Ordinarily, under the venue statutes, a transfer solely on convenience grounds carries to the transferee court, under venue statutes, the originally applicable law (i.e., the law of the transferor court), including any choice of law rules. When transfer is based on a forum selection clause, the law of the transferee court (i.e., the forum selected in the forum selection clause) is applied rather than the law of the transferor court.
