Pennsylvania: Standard of Proof Required to Establish Forum Non Conveniens

SUMMARY OF AMICUS BRIEF FILED 6/12/2024


This appeal involves the standard of proof required to establish forum non conveniens for a case involving an in-state plaintiff. Forum non conveniens has long been an essential part of Pennsylvania jurisprudence. Fairchild Engine & Airplane Corp. v. Bellanca Corp., 137 A.3d 248 (Pa. 1958). Indeed, the doctrine is memorialized in both the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure and the Pennsylvania Uniform Interstate and International Procedure Act. Pa.R.Civ.P.1006(d)(1) (applying to in-state plaintiffs; “[f]or the convenience of parties and witnesses, the court upon petition of any party may transfer an action to the appropriate court of any other county where the action could originally have been brought”); 42 Pa.C.S. §5322(e) (applying to out-of-state plaintiffs; “[w]hen a tribunal finds that in the interest of substantial justice the matter should be heard in another forum, the tribunal may stay or dismiss the whole matter in whole or in part on any conditions that may be just”).

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