Diaz-Barba

In Hahn v. Diaz-Barba (2011) 194 Cal.App.4th 1177 [ 125 Cal.Rptr.3d 242 ] (Hahn I), this court affirmed an order, issued under the forum non conveniens doctrine, staying an action against residents of California for tortious interference with contract and related claims for the sale of an interest in a Mexican business. We determined that petitioners (hereafter defendants) met their burden of proving Mexico was a suitable alternative forum, based on their stipulations to submit to the jurisdiction of Mexican courts and waive applicable statutes of limitation, and on balance the private and public interests favored Mexico as the more convenient forum. (Id. at pp. 1192, 1198-1199.) The trial court retained the power to verify that real parties (hereafter plaintiffs) had a remedy in Mexico, and we acknowledged that “[i]f, for any reason plaintiffs cannot bring their action in Mexico, they may return to California and request that the court lift the stay.” (Id. at p. 1192.)

In this petition, the issue is whether the court erred by granting plaintiffs’ motion to lift the stay on the ground Mexican courts dismissed two separate suits they filed in that country, making it an…