In an action to recover damages for legal malpractice, the defendant appeals from an order of the Supreme Court, Kings County (Held, J.), dated September 28, 2006, which denied its motion to dismiss the complaint on the ground of forum non conveniens.
Ordered that the order is reversed, on the facts and in the exercise of discretion, with costs, and the motion to dismiss the complaint is granted.
“The common-law doctrine of forum non conveniens, also
The Supreme Court failed to indicate that it considered any of the relevant factors (see National Bank & Trust Co. of N. Am. v Banco De Vizcaya, 72 NY2d at 1007; Stravalle v Land Cargo, Inc., 39 AD3d at 736). These factors strongly militate against adjudicating the action in the Supreme Court (see Martin v Mieth, 35 NY2d 414, 418 [1974]; Dawson v Seenardine, 232 AD2d 521 [1996]; Zelouf v Republic Natl. Bank of N.Y., 225 AD2d 419 [1996]; Manaster v Northstar Tours, 193 AD2d 651, 651-652 [1993]). It is undisputed that the plaintiffs legal malpractice and recoupment claims against the defendant all arose out of probate actions undertaken in Montreal, Canada, by Canadian attorneys, to which Canadian law would be applicable. Even if the plaintiff possesses residences or domiciles both in New York and Canada (see Westwood Assoc. v Deluxe Gen., 53 NY2d 618, 619 [1981]; Holness v Maritime Overseas Corp., 251 AD2d 220, 224 [1998]), she already had availed herself of Canadian courts in the past, not only in the related probate action, but also in an almost identical matter involving the payment of legal fees for the probate matter (see Hbouss v Bank of Montreal,
Under the circumstances of this case, the Supreme Court improvidently exercised its discretion in denying the defendant’s motion to dismiss the complaint on the ground of forum non conveniens (see National Bank & Trust Co. of N. Am. v Banco De Vizcaya, 72 NY2d 1005 [1988]; Islamic Republic of Iran v Pahlavi, 62 NY2d 474 [1984]; Stravalle v Land Cargo, Inc., 39 AD3d at 736; Wentzel v Allen Mach., 277 AD2d at 446). Miller, J.P., Goldstein, Skelos and Balkin, JJ., concur.
