Pedzewick v. Foe, Civil Action No. 96-11341-WGY.

• Decision Date: 28 February 1997
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. 96-11341-WGY.
• Citation: 963 F.Supp. 48
• Parties: Laurie L. PEDZEWICK, Plaintiff, v. William Wayne FOE and A.C.C. Distributors, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Massachusetts

963 F.Supp. 48

Laurie L. PEDZEWICK, Plaintiff, v. William Wayne FOE and A.C.C. Distributors, Defendants.

Civil Action No. 96-11341-WGY.

United States District Court, D. Massachusetts.

February 28, 1997.

Charles M. McGowan, Boston, MA, for Plaintiff.

Patricia A. Duggan, McLeod & Mahoney, Boston, MA, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

YOUNG, District Judge.

Laurie Pedzewick ("Pedzewick") commenced this action to recover for the personal injuries she suffered in Carabelle, Florida, in a motor vehicle accident with a truck owned by A.C.C. Distributors and driven by William Wayne Foe (collectively "the Defendants"). The Defendants filed a motion to dismiss on December 6, 1996 stating, among other things, that this Court lacks personal jurisdiction over them. Rather than opposing the motion, Pedzewick conceded that this Court lacks personal jurisdiction and filed a motion to transfer the action to the Northern District of Florida under either 28 U.S.C. § 1631 or 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a). This Court heard argument on the motions to dismiss and to transfer on January 14, 1997. At that time, the Court requested further briefing on the issue of transfer and the applicable statute of limitations. After reviewing the papers, this Court now rules on the pending motions.

I. Background

Pedzewick was injured in a head-on collision with the Defendants' truck on June 30, 1992. The accident occurred in Carabelle, Franklin County, Florida. A.C.C. Distributors is a corporation located in Albany, Georgia. William Wayne Foe is apparently also a resident of Georgia. Pedzewick, a resident of Massachusetts, commenced this diversity action on July 1, 1996 in this Court. Nothing in the Complaint suggests that the Defendants were ever subject to personal jurisdiction in or ever had any contact with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

The Defendants filed a motion to dismiss on the grounds of 1) lack of subject matter jurisdiction, 2) lack of personal jurisdiction, 3) improper venue, 4) insufficiency of service of process, and 5) failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Pedzewick, conceding that this Court lacks personal jurisdiction over the Defendants, filed a motion to transfer the case to the Northern District of Florida. As grounds for the transfer, Pedzewick states that at the time of filing the Complaint, she "believed that the defendants were subject to personal jurisdiction in Massachusetts," but that it now appears they are not. Plaintiffs Memorandum in Support of Motion to Transfer at 1. The Defendants counter that transfer is not warranted in this case because of Pedzewick's actions in delaying the action and bringing suit in a state lacking personal jurisdiction.

II. Discussion

The parties agree that this Court lacks personal jurisdiction over the Defendants. The only issue for this Court to decide, therefore, is whether to dismiss this action for lack of personal jurisdiction or transfer the case to the Northern District of Florida, a court of competent jurisdiction.

A. 28 U.S.C. § 1631

Pedzewick urges this Court to transfer this action under 28 U.S.C. § 1631. Section 1631 states:

Whenever a civil action is filed in a court ... and that court finds that there is a want of jurisdiction, the court shall, if it is in the interest of justice, transfer such action ... to any other such court in which the action ... could have been brought at the time it was filed....

28 U.S.C. § 1631 (emphasis added). As section 1631 does not specify the type of "jurisdiction" to which it refers, it has been the subject of varying interpretations. Some courts have held that section 1631 permits transfer only when a court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over a case. See, e.g., Mortensen v. Wheel Horse Prods., Inc., 772 F.Supp. 85, 88 (N.D.N.Y.1991) (citing Levy v. Pyramid Co., 687 F.Supp. 48, 51 [N.D.N.Y. 1988]); McTyre v. Broward Gen. Med. Ctr., 749 F.Supp. 102, 105 (D.N.J.1990); see also 15 C. Wright, A. Miller, & E. Cooper, Federal Practice and Procedure § 3842, at 323 (2d ed.1986). Other courts have held that section 1631 allows transfer when any type of jurisdiction is lacking, including personal jurisdiction. See, e.g., Ross v. Colorado Outward Bound School, Inc., 822 F.2d 1524, 1527 (10th Cir.1987); Romann v. Geissenberger Mfg. Corp., 865 F.Supp. 255, 263 (E.D.Pa. 1994); United States v. American River Transp., Inc., 150 F.R.D. 587, 591-92 (C.D.Ill.1993); Composite Marine Propellers, Inc. v. VanDerWoude, 741 F.Supp. 873, 878 (D.Kan.1990). The First Circuit has not yet decided this issue. Edwards v. First Am. Title Ins. Co., No. 93-1873, 1994 WL 102402, at *2-3 (1st Cir. Mar.29, 1994), cert. denied, 513 U.S. 915, 115 S.Ct. 292, 130 L.Ed.2d 207 (1994) (where court specifically declined to reach issue of whether section 1631 applies to transfers for lack of subject matter jurisdiction only or also permits transfers for lack of personal jurisdiction).

This Court agrees with the line of cases limiting section 1631 to transfer for lack of subject matter jurisdiction only. Those cases have reached that conclusion by analyzing the legislative history of section 1631. See Mortensen, 772 F.Supp. at 88; Levy, 687 F.Supp. at 51; McTyre, 749 F.Supp. at 105. A Senate report issued when Congress enacted section 1631 states:

In recent years, much confusion has been engendered by provisions of existing law that leave unclear which of two or more federal courts — including courts at both the trial and appellate level — have subject matter jurisdiction over certain categories of civil actions ... [This section] adds a new chapter to title 28 that would authorize the court in which a case is improperly filed to transfer it to a court where subject matter jurisdiction is proper.

S.Rep. No. 97-275 at 11 (1987), reprinted in 1982 U.S.C.C.A.N. 11, 21, 40 (emphasis added). As Congress specifically intended that section 1631 apply only to cases where a court lacks subject matter jurisdiction, this Court therefore rules that transfer under section 1631 is improper when a court lacks personal jurisdiction. Accordingly, this Court will not transfer this case under section 1631.

B. 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a)

Having declined to transfer under section 1631, this Court moves on to Pedzewick's alternative ground for transfer, 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a). Section 1406(a) states:

The district court of a district in which is filed a case laying venue in the wrong division or district shall dismiss, or if it be in the interest of justice, transfer such case to any district or division in which it could have been brought.

28 U.S.C. § 1406(a). Section 1406(a) applies in cases where venue improper.¹ It has also been interpreted to permit transfer for lack of personal jurisdiction. Goldlawr, Inc. v. Heiman, 369 U.S. 463, 466-67, 82 S.Ct. 913, 915-16, 8 L.Ed.2d 39 (1962); Lexington Ins. Co. v. City of Phoenix, Civil Action No. 96-10319-WGY, 1996 WL 463672 at *3 (D.Mass. July 31, 1996). Thus, should this Court deem it in the interest of justice, it may transfer this case under section 1406(a) to the Northern District of Florida.

At the outset, this Court notes that Pedzewick commenced this action on the very last day of the applicable statute of limitations. The governing statute of limitations in this case is Florida's four year statute for personal injury actions.² See Fla. Stat. ch. 95.11(3)(a); see also New England Tel. & Tel. Co. v. Gourdeau Constr. Co., 419 Mass. 658, 664, 647 N.E.2d 42 (1995). According to the Complaint, the accident occurred on June 30, 1992. The action was filed on July 1, 1996 — four years and one day after the accident. Under Florida law, this action was nevertheless timely because the last day of the four year limitation period fell on a Sunday. See Moorey v. Eytchison & Hoppes, Inc., 338 So.2d 558, 559 (Fla.Dist.Ct. App.1976) ("Where the last day of a limitation period falls on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday the period runs until the end of the next day which is neither a Saturday, Sunday nor a legal holiday.") (citation omitted); see also Thorney v. Clough, 438 So.2d 985, 986 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1983).³

Although Pedzewick commenced this action within the statute of limitations, this Court is troubled by the fact that Pedzewick filed on the very last day, in a court that — by no stretch of the imagination — could even arguably exercise personal jurisdiction over these Defendants. This Court recognizes that Congress intended section 1406(a) to "remov[e] whatever obstacles may impede an expeditious and orderly adjudication of cases and controversies on their merits." Goldlawr, 369 U.S. at 466-67, 82 S.Ct. at 916. Nevertheless, this Court concludes that transfer in this case would result in an abuse of the judicial system. The transfer statutes were not intended to give plaintiffs an end run around the rules of personal jurisdiction and venue, but rather were intended to facilitate fairness and result in greater convenience to litigants. See id. Fairness and convenience are not furthered by allowing a party purposefully to file in the wrong court, thereby holding open the statute of limitations indefinitely.

Statutes of limitations serve a very useful purpose.

Statutes of limitations are primarily designed to assure fairness to defendants. Such statutes "promote justice by preventing surprises through the revival of claims that have been allowed to slumber until evidence has been lost, memories have faded, and witnesses have disappeared. The theory is that even if one has a just claim it is unjust not to put the adversary on notice to defend within the period of limitation and that the right to be free of stale claims in time comes to prevail over the right to prosecute them." Moreover, the courts ought to be relieved of the burden of trying stale claims when a plaintiff has slept on his rights.

Burnett v. New York Central R.R. Co., 380 U.S. 424, 428, 85 S.Ct. 1050, 1054, 13 L.Ed.2d 941 (1965) (quoting Order of R.R....