Chin–Ten Hsu v. New Mighty U.S. Trust

• Decision Date: 12 February 2018
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. 10–1743 (JEB)
• Citation: 288 F.Supp.3d 272
• Parties: CHIN–TEN HSU, et al., as Executors of the will of Yueh–Lan Wang, Plaintiffs, v. NEW MIGHTY U.S. TRUST, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Columbia

288 F.Supp.3d 272

CHIN–TEN HSU, et al., as Executors of the will of Yueh–Lan Wang, Plaintiffs,

v.NEW MIGHTY U.S. TRUST, et al., Defendants.

Civil Action No. 10–1743 (JEB)

United States District Court, District of Columbia.

Signed February 12, 2018

Daniel S. Weinberger, Tryn T. Stimart, Gibbons P.C., Mark W. Stoutenburg, O'Reilly Stoutenburg Richards LLP, New York, NY, Jonathan S. Liss, Michael R. Griffinger, Gibbons P.C., Newark, NJ, Steven Michael Chasin, Baker & McKenzie LLP, Carl W. Hampe, Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy LLP, Washington, DC, for Plaintiffs.

David Brandon Leland, Andrew Muscato, John L. Gardiner, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, Washington, DC, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

JAMES E. BOASBERG, United States District Judge

Having watched this case wend its way through many twists and turns, the Court must now determine whether it in fact belongs across the Pacific. Bringing a Motion to Dismiss for forum non conveniens, Defendants contend that Taiwan, not the District of Columbia, is the appropriate jurisdiction in which to resolve this dispute over the estate of plastics magnate Yung–Ching (Y.C.) Wang. At the time of his death in 2008, Y.C. was worth an estimated $6.8 billion—making him, according to Forbes, the 178^th wealthiest individual in the world. Although he amassed quite a fortune, he lacked one crucial asset: a last will and testament. In the years since his passing, the distribution of Y.C.'s estate has thus become a significant source of contention among his many putative heirs. These claimants, to further complicate matters, belong to three separate "families" derived from Y.C.'s relationships with different women.

Nearly eight years ago, Winston Wen–Young Wong, Y.C.'s son from his Second Family, kicked off this modern-day Jarndyce v. Jarndyce when he filed suit on behalf of the First Family, which consists solely of Yueh–Lan Wang, the woman to whom Y.C. had been married since 1935. Winston, whom Yueh–Lan named as her lone heir, alleged that her marital share of Y.C.'s estate had been "shorted" by unlawful transfers of funds prior to Y.C.'s death. Asserting that Defendants—a D.C.-based trust and its affiliates—held a portion of these assets, Winston sought to reclaim Yueh–Lan's full disbursement from Y.C.'s estate. After a series of intervening events—including Yueh–Lan's death and the subsequent appointment of Executor–Plaintiffs in Taiwan—and procedural detours, the case returned to this Court's docket last year. This past August, the Court allowed Plaintiffs to file a Second Amended Complaint, and today it turns to Defendants' Motion to Dismiss that Complaint. Finding that Taiwan is an adequate alternative forum and that the relevant interests weigh strongly in favor of dismissal, the Court will grant their Motion under the doctrine of forum non conveniens . It will, however, condition that grant upon Defendants' waiver of statute-of-limitations defenses and potential additional constraints.

I. Background

A. Factual and Procedural History

As the lengthy and colorful history of this case is set forth in full in the Court's prior Opinions, it need not repeat the complete narrative here. See Yueh–Lan Wang ex rel. Wong v. New Mighty U.S. Tr.(Wang I), 841 F.Supp.2d 198, 200 (D.D.C. 2012), rev'd sub nom. Wang by & through Wong v. New Mighty U.S. Tr.(Wang Appellate Decision), 843 F.3d 487 (D.C. Cir. 2016) ; Yueh–Lan Wang by & through Winston Wen–Young Wong v. New Mighty U.S. Tr. (Wang II ), 322 F.R.D. 11, 15 (D.D.C. 2017). The Court also frequently refers to participants by their first name to avoid confusion and not out of any disrespect.

To recap briefly: this dispute centers on the disbursement of the estate of Y.C. Wang. When Y.C. died in 2008, his plastics empire made him the second-wealthiest individual in Taiwan. See Second Am. Compl, ¶ 18. Yet he had no will—an unfortunate oversight given that he left behind nine children and three putative wives. This suit is brought on behalf of the estate of the first of those partners, Yueh–Lan. Married to Y.C. for 72 years, Yueh–Lan witnessed her husband's meteoric rise, including his founding of Formosa Plastic Group, which is "one of Taiwan's biggest and most profitable manufacturing conglomerates with annual sales of over $60 billion and operations in five countries." Id., ¶ 17. She, as the "First Family," also witnessed his fathering children with two other women—Wang Yang Chiao and Pao Chu (P.C.) Lee. Id., ¶¶ 25–26. While Y.C. and Yueh–Lan had no offspring, his relationship with Wang Yang Chiao resulted in the birth of five children known as the "Second Family," and P.C. Lee produced another four known as the "Third Family." Id., ¶ 26.

As any reader of Bleak House could have been predicted, the matter of Y.C.'s estate and its disbursement has led to some discord among his three families and their various children. Related suits have been brought in Taiwan, Bermuda, New Jersey, Hong Kong, and, of course, before this Court. See ECF 38–4 (discussing Taiwan action); SAC, ¶ 64 (discussing Bermuda action); Shu v. Wang(DNJ Action), 2016 WL 6080199, at *1 (D.N.J. Oct. 17, 2016) ; ECF 49–21, ¶ 60 (discussing Hong Kong Action). This case was first filed on October 14, 2010, by Dr. Winston Wen–Young Wong (Winston), a member of the Second Family and Y.C.'s eldest son, who asserted that he was acting through a valid power-of-attorney in bringing the suit on Yueh–Lan's behalf. See ECF No. 1 (Complaint). Although Winston is a Second Family member, Yueh–Lan named him as her sole heir, and he thus has a significant interest in the restoration of any assets to her estate. See SAC, ¶ 14. Defendants are a trust formed under the laws of the District of Columbia—New Mighty U.S. Trust—as well as its trustee, Clearbridge, LLC, and a beneficiary of the trust, New Mighty Foundation. See SAC, ¶¶ 19–21. Both the Foundation and Clearbridge, it should be noted, are linked to children of the Third Family. See Wang II, 322 F.R.D. at 16.

Yueh–Lan's claims sought the return of property transferred by Y.C. to Defendants during the five years prior to his death, on the ground that Taiwanese and D.C. law would allegedly entitle her to recover these assets as part of her 50% spousal share. Wang I, 841 F.Supp.2d at 200. Although Yueh–Lan received a portion of Y.C.'s $1.7 billion "Taiwan Assets" after his death, she asserted that this sum "represent[ed] only a fraction of Y.C.'s" holdings, and that the full Marital Assets were in fact "greater than double the value of [that] property." SAC, ¶¶ 5, 34–36; see ECF No. 47–2 (Decl. of Andrew Muscato), ¶ 20 (asserting that Yueh–Lan received "hundreds of millions of dollars" from Y.C.'s Taiwan Assets).

Defendants initially moved to dismiss these claims on a variety of grounds, and this Court granted that entreaty after finding a lack of diversity jurisdiction. Wang I, 841 F.Supp.2d at 208 ; see Wang Appellate Decision, 843 F.3d at 488. Plaintiff appealed this ruling, but Yueh–Lan died shortly thereafter. Although she had named Winston as her sole heir, she had failed to appoint an executor. See Wang Appellate Decision, 843 F.3d at 489 ; SAC, ¶ 14. The D.C. Circuit thus held the case in abeyance while the Taiwanese courts determined who should act in that role. Eventually, Chen–Teh Shu, Dong–Xung Dai, and Robert Shi were chosen by the courts, and the three men moved to substitute themselves as Yueh–Lan's personal representatives under the appropriate Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure while the case was still pending at the D.C. Circuit. Id. at 489. Before ruling on that motion, though, the D.C. Circuit again stayed the case after the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Americold Realty Trust v. ConAgra Foods, Inc., ––– U.S. ––––, 136 S.Ct. 1012, 194 L.Ed.2d 71 (2016), which addressed the appropriate citizenship test for a real-estate trust—a question germane to the existence of diversity jurisdiction in this case. Wang Appellate Decision, 843 F.3d at 489 n.6.

Based on the decision in Americold, the D.C. Circuit eventually reversed this Court's dismissal of Yueh–Lan's Complaint. The Circuit, at the same time, also granted the Executors' substitution motion "without prejudice to the defendants' ability to renew in district court those arguments they ha[d] pressed before." Id. at 496. Returning to this Court, Plaintiff Executors filed a Motion for Leave to File a Second Amended Complaint and for Other Relief. See Wang II, 322 F.R.D. at 30 ; ECF No. 37. Finding that Defendants' various futility, joinder, and bad-faith arguments fell short, and that many should be reserved for later briefing, the Court concluded that "no barriers exist[ed] to the filing of Plaintiff Executors' Second Amended Complaint" and granted the motion in full. Wang II, 322 F.R.D. at 32.

B. Second Amended Complaint

The operative Second Amended Complaint alleges five counts under the Civil Code of Taiwan: (1) Yueh–Lan has not received the full value of the 50% share she is entitled to under Article 1030–1; (2) to the extent her claim cannot be satisfied from property held by Y.C. at his death, Plaintiffs are entitled to restitution from third parties pursuant to Article 1030–3; (3) Yueh–Lan is entitled to restitution from Defendants for infringing upon her right of inheritance pursuant to Article 1146; (4) Plaintiffs are entitled to the return of assets, monies, and property distributed or transferred to Defendants from the marital estate pursuant to Article 767; and (5) Defendants unjustly benefited from the improper acquisition of Y.C.'s assets and are bound to return them under Article 179. See SAC, ¶¶ 66–101. Plaintiffs also bring four counts under D.C. common law: (1) unlawful conversion of Yueh–Lan's rightful marital property; (2) unjust enrichment from the improper acquisition and use of such property; (3) an action for a constructive trust to be imposed to ensure that Plaintiffs receive Yueh–Lan's statutory share of Y.C.'s estate; and (4) an...