This chapter details the history of the development of the doctrine of forum non conveniens in the United States, demonstrating an early inclination to allow judicial discretion to decline jurisdiction when there is a more appropriate forum in another jurisdiction. It traces the major cases in the U.S. Supreme Court, and reviews the application of the doctrine in lower courts. It also considers the impact on the doctrine of transfer rules within the federal court system, the relationship between the development of the doctrine in federal courts and in state courts, the relationship of the doctrine to basic issues of jurisdiction, and the difference (if any) in application of the doctrine when the plaintiff is local or foreign.
Keywords: forum non conveniens, declining jurisdiction, transfer rules, Gilbert, Koster, Piper Aircraft, comity, discretion to dismiss, forum selection, forum shopping,