Jackson Nat. Life Ins. Co. v. Economou

• Decision Date: 30 April 2008
• Docket Number: Civil No. 07-00259-JL.
• Citation: 557 F.Supp.2d 216
• Parties: JACKSON NATIONAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY v. Robert G. ECONOMOU, et al.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of New Hampshire

557 F.Supp.2d 216

JACKSON NATIONAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY v. Robert G. ECONOMOU, et al.

Civil No. 07-00259-JL.

United States District Court, D. New Hampshire.

April 30, 2008.

Jaye Rancourt, Brennan Caron Lenehan & Iacopino, Manchester, NH, Ronald J. Caron, Brennan Caron Lenehan & Iacopino, Manchester, NH, for Defendants.

Mary Ann D. Greska, Hill, NH, pro se.

ORDER

JOSEPH N. LAPLANTE, District Judge.

Plaintiff Jackson National Life Insurance Company ("JNL") initiated this interpleader action under 28 U.S.C. § 1335¹ in order to settle a dispute over the proceeds of (an annuity it had issued to Henry 0. LeTourneau. The named death beneficiaries of the annuity are claimants Robert G. Economou and Donna Normand, LeTourneau's stepchildren ("the stepchildren" or "the stepchildren claimants"). Claimant Mary Ann Greska, LeTourneau's biological child, asserts that she and LeTourneau's other biological offspring are entitled to the annuity proceeds due to undue influence, abuse, and neglect inflicted on the decedent by the stepchildren's mother.

Jurisdiction, uncontested by the parties in this case, lies in this court under 28 U.S.C. § 1335 (2006) (statutory interpleader).

The stepchildren have moved to dismiss the case on the basis of forum non conveniens, or in the alternative, to transfer this case to a different venue pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a) (2006). Oral argument on the motion was heard on April 21, 2008. For the reasons set forth below, the motion to dismiss is denied, and the motion to transfer is granted.

I. BACKGROUND

In 2002, JNL issued a "Target Select Deferred Annuity" to LeTourneau. The annuity provided that certain benefits would be payable to a designated beneficiary or beneficiaries upon LeTourneau's death. In 2004, LeTourneau designated Greska, who is his biological daughter, and two other biological children as beneficiaries. Two years later, LeTourneau executed and sent to JNL a "beneficiary change form" designating his stepchildren, Economou and Normand, as equal beneficiaries, to the exclusion of the biological children. About seven months later, LeTourneau died. The ensuing death certificate, issued by Florida authorities, indicated that the cause of death was pneumonia with an approximate onset three weeks prior, and "advanced dementia" with an approximate onset one year prior.

Economou and Normand each asserted a claim for fifty percent of the death benefit. Receiving information that the biological children, including Greska, intended to challenge the change in beneficiary designation because of LeTourneau's dementia, JNL initiated this § 1335 interpleader action.²

Greska, who lives in New Hampshire, asserts that LeTourneau's spouse at his death (the stepchildren's mother) exerted undue influence on him and subjected him to abuse and neglect, causing him to execute the beneficiary change form designating the stepchildren as beneficiaries. Greska alleges (but does not specify) several incidents of abuse and neglect occurring in Florida, as well as indicia of dementia on LeTourneau's part, during 2006. The alleged' manifestations of dementia, instances of abuse and neglect, and the execution of the beneficiary change form all took place in, or in the vicinity of, Port Charlotte, Florida, where LeTourneau resided until his death. The stepchildren claimants, Economou and Normand, reside in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, and Peabody, Massachusetts, respectively. They assert that LeTourneau's last will and testament was executed on April 10, 2006, in Charlotte County, Florida, at which time witnesses swore that LeTourneau was of sound mind, and under no constraint or undue influence. They further assert that on May 1, 2006, LeTourneau was examined by his long-time treating physician, presumably in or near Port Charlotte, Florida, who found him to be of sound mind. Claiming to have had no knowledge of LeTourneau's designation of them as beneficiaries until his death, the stepchildren dispute that he was suffering from advanced dementia for a period of one year prior to his death as indicated on the death certificate.

Having deposited the disputed funds with the court (see 28 U.S.C. § 1335(a)(1)), and recovered its costs and fees, see Trs. of Directors Guild of Am.-Producer Pension Benefits Plans v. Tise, 234 F.3d 415, 426 (9th Cir.2000); Ferber Co. v. Ondrick, 310 F.2d 462, 467 (1st Cir.1962), JNL was dismissed from the case in accordance with the customary procedure in interpleader actions. See Hudson Sav. Bank v. Austin, 479 F.3d 102, 107 (1st Cir.2007).

II. ANALYSIS

The motion to dismiss on forum non conveniens grounds requires little consideration. Forum non conveniens is "a discretionary tool for the district court to dismiss a claim, even when" as here, "it has proper jurisdiction." Adelson v. Hananel, 510 F.3d 43, 52 (1st Cir.2007) (citing Gulf Oil Corp. v. Gilbert, 330 U.S. 501, 67 S.Ct. 839, 91 L.Ed. 1055 (1947) and Koster v. Lumbermens Mut. Cas. Co., 330 U.S. 518, 67 S.Ct. 828, 91 L.Ed. 1067 (1947)). "[A] supervening venue provision, permitting displacement of the ordinary rules of venue when, in light of certain conditions, the trial court thinks that jurisdiction ought to be declined," forum non conveniens "has continuing application [in federal courts] only in cases where the alternative forum is abroad, and perhaps in rare cases where a state or territorial court serves litigational convenience best." Sinochem Int'l Co. v. Malaysia Int'l Shipping Corp., ___ U.S. ___, 127 S.Ct. 1184, 1190, 167 L.Ed.2d 15 (2007) (brackets in original; internal citations omitted) (citing American Dredging Co. v. Miller, 510 U.S. 443, 449 n. 2, 114 S.Ct. 981, 127 L.Ed.2d 285 (1994) and 14D Charles Alan Wright, Arthur R. Miller & Edward H. Cooper, Federal Practice and Procedure § 3828, at 620-623 & nn. 9-10 (3rd ed. 2007)).

Since the alternative forum at issue in this case is not a foreign country, but rather the Middle District of Florida, a forum non conveniens dismissal would be improper in this case. The stepchildren claimants' reliance on the doctrine is misplaced, and their motion to dismiss is denied. The court will proceed to address their motion to transfer venue under 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a).

Applicable legal standard

"Under § 1404(a),[³] a district court may transfer any civil action to any other district where it may have been brought `[f]or the convenience of parties and witnesses, in the interest of justice.'" Coady v. Ashcraft & Gerel, 223 F.3d 1, 11 (1st Cir.2000) (quoting 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a) (2006) (bracketed footnote added)).⁴ "The burden of proof rests with the party seeking transfer; there is a strong presumption in favor of the plaintiff's choice of forum." Id. (citing Gulf, 330 U.S. at 508, 67 S.Ct. 839 (applying the doctrine of forum non conveniens)). A properly grounded motion to transfer venue is committed to the discretion of the transferor court, which has wide latitude in determining whether to grant it. Auto Europe, LLC v. Conn. Indem. Co., 321 F.3d 60, 64 (1st Cir.2003).

The text of the transfer statute itself (see supra at n. 5) sets forth `three factors which form the basis of the court's consideration (but to which the court's inquiry is not strictly limited): (1) the convenience of the parties, (2) the convenience of the witnesses, and (3) the interest of justice. See id. "The three factors mentioned in the statute, convenience of parties and witnesses and the interest of justice, are broader generalities that take on a variety of meanings in the context of specific cases. Further, the statute gives no hint about how these broad categories are to be weighed against each other." 15 Wright, Miller & Cooper, supra, § 3847 at. 97-98. The First Circuit has stated that while the compendia of factors is a helpful starting point, "not every item applies in every case and, in the last analysis, the list of factors is illustrative rather than all-inclusive. `The ultimate inquiry is where trial will best serve the convenience of the parties and the ends of justice.'" Iragorri v. Int'l Elevator, Inc., 203 F.3d 8, 12 (1st Cir.2000) (quoting Koster, 330 U.S. at 527, 67 S.Ct. 828); see also Coffey v. Van Dorn Iron Works, 796 F.2d 217, 219 n. 3 (7th Cir.1986) (noting that while "the trial judge is limited to the three factors as specifically mentioned in § 1404(a), ... these factors are best viewed as placeholders for a broader set of considerations, the contours of which turn upon the particular facts of each case").

The courts, drawing heavily on concepts from § 1404(a)'s predecessor doctrine, forum non conveniens, have broken down the statute's three enumerated grounds for transfer—convenience to parties, convenience to witnesses, and the interest of justice—into "private-interest" and "public-interest" factors see, e.g., Coady, 223 F.3d at 11. The private-interest factors are:

• the plaintiff's choice of forum;

• location of the operative `events in the case;

• convenience of the parties;

• the convenience of the witnesses;

• cost of obtaining witnesses;

• location of counsel;

• ability to compel attendance of witnesses;

• accessibility and location of sources of proof;

• possibility of a jury view; and

• the existence of a contractual forum/selection clause.

See id.; see also Cianbro Corp. v. Curran-Lavoie, Inc., 814 F.2d 7, 11 (1987); 17 James Wm. Moore et al, Moore's Federal Practice, § 111.13[1][b], at 111-67-111-68 (3rd ed. 2008); 15 Wright, supra, § 3847, at 109.

Plaintiff's choice of forum. Although "there is a strong presumption in favor of the plaintiff's choice of forum," Coady, 223 F.3d at 11, "[s]ome courts have said that [the presumption] is less significant in certain contexts such as ... when the plaintiffs ... have no real interest in the outcome of the action." 15 Wright, supra § 3846, at 127-129 & n. 14 (citing Mutual of Omaha Ins. Co. v. Dolby, 531 F.Supp. 511 (E.D.Pa.1982)) (finding presumption inapplicable in interpleader cases)....