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In re Bridgestone/Firestone and Ford Motor Co. Tire Litigation12/3/2003
Facts and Procedural History
The present matter is comprised of some thirty-one lawsuits arising from automobile accidents that occurred in Mexico. Each accident involved steel belted radial tires manufactured by Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc. ("Firestone") and installed on Ford Motor Company ("Ford") or General Motors sport utility vehicles. The accidents occurred in at least eleven different states throughout Mexico, including Jalisco, Nayarit, San Luis Potosi, Mexico City, Guanajanto, Veracruz, Guerrero, Nuevo Leon, Sonora, Tabasco, and Aguascalientes. In each case, the vehicles and tires were purchased and serviced exclusively in Mexico; the medical treatment and the investigations occasioned by the accidents were conducted in Mexico; and all witnesses of the accidents reside in Mexico. The defendants, Ford and Firestone, are business concerns that operate on a global scale. Ford maintains its headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan, while Firestone keeps its principle place of business in Nashville, Tennessee.
The plaintiffs, all of whom are citizens and residents of Mexico, assert that defects in the Firestone tires, alone or in conjunction with an alleged propensity of Ford vehicles to roll over, caused the accidents. The plaintiffs assert claims for negligence, strict liability, and breach of the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act. They also assert a claim for civil conspiracy, alleging that Ford and Firestone conspired to conceal the defective nature of their products. The plaintiffs filed their various actions in Davidson County, which constitutes Firestone's principle place of business, and the cases were consolidated for pre-trial proceedings on May 21, 2001. During the course of these proceedings, Ford and Firestone moved for dismissal based upon the doctrine of forum non conveniens. They maintained that Mexico would provide a preferable forum in which to conduct the instant cases. The lower court denied the motions, making two determinative findings. First, the court found that Mexico does not provide a "truly adequate alternative forum that would allow the fair disposition of these cases." The court then found, in the alternative, that the defendants failed to demonstrate that the relevant public and private factors warrant dismissal of the cases.
Ford and Firestone then requested permission of the lower court to seek an interlocutory appeal, which the court denied. This Court thereafter granted the defendants' application for extraordinary appeal pursuant to Rule 10 of the Tennessee Rules of Appellate Procedure.
Issues
Ford and Firestone raise the following issues, as we perceive them, for our review.
I. Whether the trial court erred by inquiring into the "adequacy" of an alternative forum as part of its forum non conveniens analysis;
II. Whether the trial court erred by denying Appellants' motion to dismiss under the doctrine of forum non conveniens.
Standard of Review
The application of forum non conveniens is a matter of discretion with the trial court. Our review on appeal is limited to whether there has been an abuse of discretion. Zurick v. Inman, 426 S.W.2d 767, 772 (Tenn. 1968). "Judicial discretion when used as a guide for judicial action `means a sound discretion . . . a discretion exercised not arbitrarily or willfully, but with regard to what is right and equitable under the circumstances and the law, and directed by the reason and conscience of the judge to a just result.'" Package Express Center, Inc. v. Snider Foods, Inc., 788 S.W.2d 561, 564 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1989) (quoting Langnes v. Green, 282 U.S. 531, 541 (1
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