Consolidated Rail Corporation v. Allied Corporation and General Electric Railcar Services Corporation

FLAUM, Circuit Judge.

This case illustrates once again that in litigation, as in so many other areas of endeavor, the first move may spell the difference between success and failure. Plaintiff’s first move was to bring its action in federal district court in Indiana. As a result, the district court was obliged to use Indiana substantive law to decide the legal issues in the case. The district court held that under Indiana law the plaintiff could not state a cause of action and thus dismissed the case as to these defendants. 692 F.Supp. 924. We affirm.

I

On February 3, 1985, a tank car located at…