Rolls-Royce Corporation v. Ghafari Associates, LLC
- Vyskocil
- 1:22-cv-10681
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Rolls-Royce v. Ghafari, Judge Vyskocil transferred the case to Indiana because the parties consented and the circumstances favored that forum.
Rolls-Royce Corporation, American Guarantee & Liability Insurance Company, Ghafari Associates, LLC, and the third-party parties involved in the case are affected by the transfer to the Southern District of Indiana.
What happened
Rolls-Royce Corporation and American Guarantee & Liability Insurance Company sued Ghafari Associates, LLC. Ghafari later filed a counterclaim and received permission to bring claims against third-party defendants, including Albers Management and Design Services, LLC and Freitag-Weinhardt, Inc.
All parties who had appeared agreed to transfer the case from the Southern District of New York to the Southern District of Indiana. The court also considered the plant and incident involved in the lawsuit, the parties’ business activities, and the locations of witnesses and evidence.
Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil ordered that the case be transferred to the Southern District of Indiana under the federal transfer statute.
The detailed version
- Rolls-Royce Corporation v. Ghafari Associates, LLC · No. 1:22-cv-10681
- Vyskocil
- Oct. 10, 2023
Background
Rolls-Royce Corporation and American Guarantee & Liability Insurance Company, acting as Rolls-Royce’s subrogee, sued Ghafari Associates, LLC. Ghafari filed an answer asserting a counterclaim and later filed a third-party complaint against several third-party defendants. The opinion states that only Albers Management and Design Services, LLC, and Freitag-Weinhardt, Inc., had appeared among the third-party defendants.
Transfer request
The appearing parties jointly requested a transfer to the Southern District of Indiana under 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a). That statute allows a federal court to transfer a civil case for the convenience of the parties and witnesses and in the interest of justice, including when all parties consent to the transfer.
Court’s reasoning
The court agreed that transfer was appropriate. It relied on the parties’ agreement and additional circumstances: the Rolls-Royce plant involved in the lawsuit is in Indianapolis; the incident giving rise to the case occurred there; Ghafari conducts business in Indiana; many, if not all, of the third-party defendants conduct business there; and the parties stated that many witnesses and sources of evidence are located in Indiana.
Disposition
The court ordered that the case be transferred to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.