Gardner: Retiring Forum Non Conveniens

Maggie Gardner (Harvard Univ. - Law) has published Retiring Forum Non Conveniens (New York University Law Review, Vol. 92, no. 2, p. 390, May 2017). Here's the abstract:

When it comes to transnational litigation in the federal courts, it is time to retire the doctrine of forum non conveniens. The doctrine, which allows judges to decline jurisdiction in cases they believe would be better heard in foreign courts, is meant to promote international comity and protect defendant fairness. But it was never well designed for the former purpose, and given recent developments at the Supreme Court, it is dangerously redundant when it comes to the latter. This Article seeks to demythologize forum non conveniens, to question its continuing relevance, and to encourage the courts and Congress to narrow its scope of application so that, when the time is right, it may be fully interred.