1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 HMM CO., LTD., Case No. 8:24-cv-01454-FLA (ADSx)

12 Plaintiff,

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE WHY

13 v. THE ACTION SHOULD NOT BE

TRANSFERRED TO A DISTRICT

14 COURT IN NEW YORK OR NEW

SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS JERSEY

15 AMERICA, INC., et al., 16 Defendants. 17

18

19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 1 ORDER 2 On July 1, 2024, Plaintiff HMM Co., Ltd. (“Plaintiff” or “HMM”) filed the 3 Complaint in this action, asserting claims against Defendant Samsung Electronics 4 America, Inc. (“SEA”) for: (1) breach of maritime contract; and (2) goods and 5 services rendered.1 Dkt. 1 (“Compl.”). The Complaint alleges HMM is a corporation 6 duly organized under the laws of the Republic of Korea, and that SEA is a New York 7 corporation with its principal place of business in New Jersey. Id. ¶¶ 2, 4. According 8 to Plaintiff, “[t]his is a suit for unpaid detention, chassis, demurrage, rail ramp storage 9 and other miscellaneous charges and expenses related to the transport of cargo through 10 maritime activity, pursuant to maritime contracts,” involving transactions which were 11 discharged at various port facilities across the United States. Id. ¶¶ 8, 12. 12 “For the convenience of parties and witnesses, in the interest of justice, a 13 district court may transfer any civil action to any other district or division where it 14 might have been brought or to any district or division to which all parties have 15 consented.” 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a). A district court may “transfer a case sua sponte 16 under the doctrine of forum non conveniens, as codified at 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a), so 17 long as the parties are first given the opportunity to present their views on the issue.” 18 Costlow v. Weeks, 790 F.2d 1486, 1488 (9th Cir. 1986) (italicization added). 19 Plaintiff does not plead any specific facts in the Complaint to establish that this 20 is a more appropriate forum than a district court in New York or New Jersey. See 21 Compl. While Plaintiff alleges that, on information and belief, “many of SEA’s 22 operations, shipping, and logistics personnel, including individuals involved in 23 transactions with HMM, are located in [SEA’s] Santa Ana, CA office,” Plaintiffs’ 24 assertion is entirely speculative and insufficient to establish this is a more appropriate 25 forum. 26

27 1 The court cites documents by the page numbers added by the court’s CM/ECF 28 System, rather than any page numbers listed in documents natively. I Accordingly, the court ORDERS the parties to show cause in writing, within 2 | fourteen (14) days of this Order, why the action should not be transferred to a district 3 | court in New York or New Jersey. The parties may file one brief per side. Each brief 4 || shall not exceed 4,200 words. Failure to respond timely shall result in the transfer of 5 | this action without further notice from the court. 6 7 IT IS SO ORDERED. 8 9 | Dated: January 17, 2025 10 FERNANDO L. AENLLE-ROCHA 4 United States District Judge

12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28