Parkins
WILMINGTON, Del. (Legal Newsline) - A Delaware court has welcomed an asbestos lawsuit that was rejected by a California court that advised the plaintiff to re-file in Texas.
New Castle County Superior Court Judge John Parkins on Monday refused to dismiss the asbestos claim filed by Charles Williams against truck-maker PACCAR. The case was originally filed in a California court.
Parkins called the California ruling dismissing the case "narrow." It held the state of its docket and the plaintiff's limited contacts with California made it an inconvenient forum.
"It never decided, nor was it asked to decide, that Delaware was an inconvenient forum for resolution of Plaintiff's claims," Parkins wrote. "It has long been the policy of this court to accord great deference to the plaintiff's choice of forum."
The California court concluded Texas was an ideal forum, but didn't decide the case couldn't be litigated in Delaware, Parkins said.