FEDERAL COURTS-FORUM NON CONVENIENS APPLIED IN NEGLIGENCE ACTION

ln a Federal District Court in New York, plaintiff, a resident of Virginia, sued defendant, a Pennsylvania corporation doing business in New York and Virginia, for negligent destruction of plaintiff's warehouse in Virginia. Defendant moved to dismiss on the ground that suit in New York would not be proper because neither plaintiff nor defendant was a resident of New York, the cause of action arose in Virginia, and because suit in New York would work great hardship on defendant since it would be unable to compel the attendance of material witnesses resident in Virginia, nor could it join, as defendant, an independent contractor in Virginia who, rather than the principal defendant, might prove to be liable for the loss. The district court granted defendant's motion but the Second Circuit Court of Appeals reversed, one justice dissenting. On certiorari to the United States Supreme Court, held, reversed, four justices dissenting.

Gulf Oil Corporation v. Gilbert, (U.S. 1947) 67 S. Ct. 839.