Paulo v. France-Presse
- 1:22-cv-06210
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
Paulo v. France-Presse: the court granted defendants’ dismissal motion, dismissed claims on forum and jurisdiction grounds, and closed the case.
Leong Francisco Paulo’s claims were dismissed; the defendants obtained dismissal, with the forum non conveniens dismissal subject to conditions and the claims against Agence France-Presse dismissed for lack of personal jurisdiction.
What happened
In Paulo v. France-Presse, Leong Francisco Paulo sued Agence France-Presse and other defendants in federal court. The judgment followed an earlier report and court opinion that are not included in the provided text.
The court granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss. It dismissed the case under the doctrine of forum non conveniens, subject to conditions requiring the defendants to accept service and jurisdiction in Portugal, waive certain time-limit defenses, preserve Paulo’s ability to pursue his claims there, and accept his argument about a license. It also dismissed the claims against Agence France-Presse for lack of personal jurisdiction.
The court required the parties to submit a proposed dismissal agreement within 21 days and stated that the case was closed. The provided judgment identifies the clerk, Ruby J. Krajick, but does not identify the judge; the court entered the ruling.
The detailed version
- Paulo v. France-Presse · No. 1:22-cv-06210
- Sept. 26, 2023
Background
Leong Francisco Paulo brought this action against Agence France-Presse and other defendants. The judgment states that it was based on the court’s September 25, 2023 Memorandum Opinion and Order and an accompanying report, but those materials are not included in the provided text.
Rulings
The court adopted the report in its entirety and granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss consistent with that report.
The court dismissed the case under the doctrine of forum non conveniens. That doctrine allows a court to decline to hear a case when another forum is considered more appropriate. The dismissal was conditioned on the defendants’ agreement to:
- Accept service of process in Portugal;
- Submit to the jurisdiction of the Lisbon District Courts Labour Division and/or Intellectual Property Division;
- Waive any statute-of-limitations defense that may have arisen since the action was filed;
- Toll the statute of limitations on Paulo’s claims under “the Act” and allow him to move to reopen this action and reassert those claims if a Portuguese court declined to hear them; and
- Agree that Paulo was not barred from arguing that Clause 7 created a license that he rescinded.
The judgment separately states that the claims against Agence France-Presse were dismissed for lack of personal jurisdiction, meaning the court concluded it lacked legal authority over that defendant.
Further Procedure and Disposition
The parties were ordered to submit, within 21 days of the order, a proposed stipulation of dismissal agreeing to the listed conditions. The court also stated that the lack of timely objections to the report precluded appellate review of the decision. The case was closed. The provided judgment does not identify the judge; Ruby J. Krajick is identified as the clerk of court who signed the judgment on behalf of the clerk’s office.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.