Forum Non Conveniens - Hypothetical

Hypothetical

An Israeli businessman sues an American national with a domicile in New York State, in a court of that latter state for breach of contract. The contract was for the performance of construction services in Israel, the loss alleged to flow from the breach was sustained in Israel, all the potential witnesses live in Israel, the proper law is Israeli law, and all relevant documentation is in Hebrew. Although the New York court could base jurisdiction on the defendant's domicile and residence, it might apply FNC, reasoning that an Israeli court would be a more convenient forum. It is alleged that a key factor will be whether the defendant has any assets in Israel. If not, the case will have to return to New York as a foreign judgment for enforcement. This need to return to New York in any event might persuade the New York court to accept the initial jurisdiction.

In reality, a New York defendant would rarely make an FNC motion seeking voluntarily to send the case to a foreign country. This would mean that the defendant would have to travel to Israel for pretrial conferences every time his affidavits must be cross-examined, rather than take the subway. He would also have to hire foreign lawyers, which means less control over their work because of language and communication problems, lack of familiarity with the foreign system, less physical access to legal advice, and also taking a risk that the foreign systems contain unpredictable legal pitfalls. In addition, a foreign court might show favoritism to the foreign plaintiff and against the New York defendant. Thus, in reality a New York defendant would almost always prefer to defend the case on familiar turf. One mechanism is to ask the New York Court to instruct the Israeli plaintiff to deposit a bond to secure costs and fees to secure recovery if the case is unsuccessful. Also, the availability of future recovery in a foreign Court is not a critical factor in the FNC analysis, as foreign judgments can be returned to New York for domestication under the principle of comity by making a motion in lieu of complaint to recognize the foreign judgment.