Chick Kam Choo v. Exxon Corp.

I agree with the Court that, as a general matter, “[fjederal forum non conveniens principles simply cannot determine whether [state] courts, which operate under a broad ‘open-courts’ mandate, [will] consider themselves an appropriate forum” for a federal litigant’s lawsuit. Ante, at 148. Consequently, in diversity cases — for example — a district court’s dismissal on forum non conveniens grounds cannot serve as a basis for a later injunction if the plaintiff subsequently brings the same action in a state court.

But, as the Court recognizes, this case involves the special area of federal…