Jacqueline Carr v. Ruth Freiday Grace, and Southeast Title & Insurance Company

The question raised in this diversity suit is whether a federal court endowed with concurrent jurisdiction to hear a case that has been filed in state court, should dismiss rather than stay its case pending state resolution of the suit prior to the time of the state trial. Although the issue is complicated somewhat by the subsequent occurrence of a final state judgment that would ordinarily be res judicata if we were considering this case anew, we hold that the initial dismissal by the federal court was improperly granted.

Briefly, the facts are these: Jacqueline Carr, a resident of Louisiana,…