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Illinois Centeral Railroad Company v. Travis2/28/2002
nterest in deciding this case in Mississippi, and having Plaintiff Travis joined should not remove this local interest.
(G) Plaintiff's Forum Should Rarely Be Disturbed
. This factor is discussed in Tircuit:
While, unless the balance is strongly in favor of the defendant, the choice of a plaintiff who is a resident of the forum "should rarely be disturbed," deference to the plaintiff is less compelling when the plaintiff is a non-resident. There is no reason to assume a non-resident plaintiff will choose a foreign forum for purposes of convenience. Id. at 882.
. In the case below, Plaintiff Travis is a non-resident, and thus her choice is less compelling. However, this Court recognized that while a non-resident plaintiff's choice of venue may receive less deference, this does not mean that their choice is given no deference. Metropolitan Life Ins. Co. v. Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co., 728 So.2d 573, 576 (Miss.1999). The factors under the forum non conveniens test do not weigh against Plaintiff's venue choice. Thus, it is appropriate to give some deference to Plaintiff Travis's choice of Marshall County. We find that the trial court properly denied ICRR's Motion to Dismiss based on forum non conveniens.
CONCLUSION
. We find that joinder was appropriate under Rule 20(a) of the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure, and venue that is proper to one plaintiff is proper for all under Rule 82(c). Thus, it was appropriate, and not an abuse of discretion, for the trial court to deny the motion to dismiss as to the improper joinder and improper venue claims. Finally, the trial court's finding as to the claim of forum non conveniens is not clearly erroneous. Based on these findings, we affirm the trial court's denial of ICRR's motion to dismiss Plaintiff Travis's claim, and we remand this case to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
. AFFIRMED AND REMANDED.
PITTMAN, C.J., McRAE, P.J., WALLER, COBB, DIAZ, EASLEY, CARLSON AND GRAVES, JJ., CONCUR.
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