Will Boeing's Recent Move to Chicago Mean That More Commercial Airliner Crash Cases Will Be Litigated There?

The authors of this article (Paragraph No. 35,201) write that experienced air disaster lawyers pay careful attention to where they file their clients' lawsuits. Defendants often disagree with plaintiffs' choices and are quick to argue that a plaintiff is "forever shopping." Plaintiffs sometimes respond that defendants are guilty of "reverse forum shopping." These slogan arguments are of little help to courts that are required to rule on forum non conveniens and similar motions. The Illinois Supreme Court has recently quoted Illinois Appellate Court Justice Gordon E. Maag's observation that: "The truth of the matter is that both plaintiffs' counsel and defendants' counsel are jockeying for position by seeking a judge, jury and forum that will enable them to achieve the best possible result for their clients. There is no doubt that in the personal injury context, the plaintiff is seeking a forum where he can recover the most money and the defendant is seeking a forum where it will have to pay the least. All other considerations are secondary to both sides." Not much has been written about the choice of forum analyses that air crash victims and their attorneys conduct. With rare insight into such matters, the authors use Boeing's recent move to Chicago as an opportunity to shed some light on the topic. They revisit the prominent role that Chicago courts have played in aviation cases and analyze the probable effect of Boeing's move to Chicago on aviation cases in its courts in the future. Not surprisingly, the authors conclude that Boeing's move probably will result in Chicago courts playing an even more prominent role in air disaster litigation.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Abstract title (abstract 919, for Paragraph No. 35,201)), which differs a bit from article title, is: Will Boeing's Recent Move to Chicago Mean That More Air Crash Cases Will Be Litigated There?
• Corporate Authors:

  International Aviation Law Institute

  DePaul University College of Law, 25 E Jackson Boulevard
  Chicago, IL  United States  60604
• Authors:
  • Rapoport, David E
  • Jacobson, Keith
• Publication Date: 2004

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Edition: Transfer Binder 1: 2001 to 2004
• Pagination: pp 22201-22212
• Monograph Title: Issues in Aviation Law and Policy

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Air transportation crashes; Aircraft crash victims; Airlines; Civil aircraft; Litigation
• Identifier Terms: Boeing aircraft; Boeing Company
• Geographic Terms: Chicago (Illinois)
• Subject Areas: Aviation; Law;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01150761
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Feb 19 2010 10:59AM