Case of the Day: Siswanto v. Airbus Ams., 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 171027 (N.D. Ill. Dec. 9, 2016)

Summary:

Plaintiffs are next of kin of the 156 passengers who perished in the AirAsia Flight 8501 crash in Indonesia. Defendants moved to dismiss based on forum non conveniens. The court found that Indonesia was an adequate alternate forum, even though it was not clear if Indonesian courts had jurisdiction over non-Indonesian defendants, because the defendants stipulated to jurisdiction in Indonesia.

Takeaway:

It is always interesting to see forum non conveniens motion to dismiss based on an event occurring outside of the United States, because generally, the defendants prefer to litigate in home jurisdiction. But when it comes to mass torts, the U.S.-based defendants actively disavow their preference to the U.S. forum, usually because of the cost of litigation and the great amount of damages.