Patrick Kearns (Partner-San Diego) and David Hoynacki (Associate-San Diego) recently secured a significant victory in the California Court of Appeal in a Wilson Elser / DAC Beachcroft case under Legalign Global. The case originated when a small plane crashed in Tijuana, Mexico, resulting in the deaths of the pilot and a bystander on the ground. The bystander’s family brought a wrongful death suit in San Diego and attempted to trigger a short-term aircraft policy issued in the United States by a Mexican insurer. The insurer, a company headquartered in Mexico City and a Legalign Global / Wilson Elser client, declined to participate in the wrongful death action due to the terms of the policy; emphasizing that the policy only applied over Mexican airspace, applied Mexican law and required a Mexican venue. The family then brought a claim directly against the insurer alleging bad faith, filed in San Diego. Patrick and David moved to dismiss the case on forum non conveniens grounds, arguing that Mexico, rather than San Diego, was the appropriate venue for the litigation to proceed. The trial court agreed and the decision was appealed to the California Court of Appeal. The issues on appeal involved a nuanced examination of the forum non conveniens doctrine when applied across international borders. Ultimately, the Court of Appeal agreed with Wilson Elser’s position that in light of the policy terms, the location of witnesses and documents, and the various considerations involved when examining the doctrine of forum non conveniens, Mexico was the proper venue for the case.