Chin-Ten Hsu v. New Mighty U.S. Trust
308 F. Supp. 3d 178
D.C. Cir.2018Background
- Plaintiffs are executors of Yueh-Lan Wang’s estate challenging distributions from trusts holding assets of Taiwanese magnate Y.C. Wang; Defendants are a D.C.-based trust and affiliates.
- Defendants moved to dismiss under forum non conveniens (FNC), arguing Taiwan is an adequate forum because the dispute principally involves Taiwanese family and inheritance law.
- This Court previously found Taiwan an adequate alternative forum and that public and private factors favored dismissal, but withheld entry of the dismissal order to allow Plaintiffs to propose conditions.
- Plaintiffs proposed nine conditions to protect their ability to re-file and litigate in Taiwan; Defendants accepted some conditions and opposed or narrowed others.
- The present opinion selects which conditional terms are reasonable and will be imposed as part of the FNC dismissal.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consent to jurisdiction: scope of consent in Taiwan | Consent should cover Taiwan generally, not be limited to Taipei | Consent should be limited to Taipei (per declarations) | Court conditions dismissal on consent to service and jurisdiction in Taiwan generally, not city-specific |
| Waiver of temporal defenses (statute of limitations, repose, laches): scope of claims covered | Waiver should apply to claims in the Second Amended Complaint and to claims that may be framed differently under Taiwanese law (Plaintiffs proposed broad language) | Waiver should apply only to the claims expressly pleaded in the Second Amended Complaint | Court adopts middle ground: waiver covers claims in the Second Amended Complaint and substantively congruent claims as pled under Taiwanese law; rejects overbroad phrasing |
| Discovery and non-parties: imposing U.S. discovery rules and compelling non-party participation | Plaintiffs seek condition requiring pre-trial discovery under the Federal Rules and compelling non-parties with overlapping governance to submit to jurisdiction and discovery | Defendants say these conditions are unrelated to ability to re-file in Taiwan and the court lacks power over non-parties | Court declines to impose U.S. procedural discovery requirements or to compel unidentified non-parties; finds prior analysis that Taiwan offers sufficient discovery remedies adequate |
| Enforcement of foreign judgment and re-opening / duration of conditions | Plaintiffs sought assurance that Defendants would satisfy any Taiwan judgment without domestication and a 90-day window for conditions to expire after appeals | Defendants oppose enforced satisfaction of foreign judgment and prefer a 45-day re-filing window in Taiwan; argue enforcement condition is improper | Court rejects conditioning dismissal on agreement to satisfy foreign judgment (citing precedent); accepts Plaintiffs' 90-day expiration period for the dismissal conditions to allow for appeals |
Key Cases Cited
- Sinochem Int'l Co. v. Malaysia Int'l Shipping Corp., 549 U.S. 422 (U.S. 2007) (FNC dismissal doctrine and discretion)
- El-Fadl v. Cent. Bank of Jordan, 75 F.3d 668 (D.C. Cir. 1996) (district courts may condition FNC dismissal on defendants' submission to foreign jurisdiction)
- MBI Grp., Inc. v. Credit Foncier du Cameroun, 558 F. Supp. 2d 21 (D.D.C. 2008) (discussion of conditioning dismissal to protect plaintiff)
- Blanco v. Banco Indus. de Venezuela, S.A., 997 F.2d 974 (2d Cir. 1993) (FNC dismissals often conditioned to prevent prejudice to plaintiff)
- In re Union Carbide Corp., 809 F.2d 195 (2d Cir. 1987) (district court erred by conditioning FNC dismissal on defendants' consent to enforcement of a foreign judgment)