 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Ison v. E.I. Dupont De Nemours and Company5/25/1999
issue.
The plaintiffs assert several other practical considerations, most notably the much higher cost of prosecution of products liability cases in the United Kingdom and New Zealand. This argument lacks significant legal merit for two reasons. First, as noted above, the overarching factor that a trial court must consider in an FNC analysis is substantial hardship to the defendant. Second, even though Delaware jurisprudence does accord the cost of prosecution factor some weight, in this case the trial court considered the difficulty that the plaintiffs might encounter in pursuing this claim in their home countries due to the unavailability of contingency fee arrangements. It decided that this did not swing the balance back in favor of the plaintiffs.
Although the other practical considerations weigh in favor of DuPont, the six Cryo-Maid factors together do not prove that DuPont would suffer overwhelming burden or inconvenience if forced to litigate in Delaware. The fact that DuPont's principal place of business is in Delaware and the fact that the product at issue was researched and developed in Delaware effectively preclude a finding on this record that DuPont would suffer overwhelming hardship by litigating in Delaware.
Conclusion
Considering the cursory nature of the trial court's opinion and its failure to use the appropriate standard of overwhelming hardship to the defendant, we find that the trial court erred as a matter of law in failing to apply the correct standard for dismissal of this cause of action pursuant to the doctrine of forum non conveniens. Accordingly, we reverse the decision of the trial court and remand this case to the Superior Court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Delaware Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|