G. Isaacs v. Joe Broido

Plaintiff-Appellant G. Isaacs, aka Gabrielle Carteris, appeals the denial of her motion to remand for lack of diversity jurisdiction, and the ultimate dismissal of her personal injury suit on forum non conveniens grounds. As the facts and procedural history are familiar to the parties, we do not recite them here except as necessary to explain our decision.

We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 .

A. Motion to Remand for Lack of Diversity

1. Defendant Front Street Pictures, Inc.

Front Street Pictures is a California corporation and is therefore nondiverse from Carteris, a California citizen, if California is either its place of incorporation or its primary place of business. 28 U.S.C. § 1332 (c); Industrial Tectonics, Inc. v. Aero Alloy, 912 F.2d 1090, 1094 (9th Cir.1990). The district court was in the best position to determine which of the two entities identified in the litigation called Front Street Pictures was the proper party, and to evaluate the conflicting evidence in the record regarding Front Street Pictures’s citizenship. See Inwood Labs., Inc. v. Ives Labs., Inc., 456 U.S. 844, 855 , 102 S.Ct. 2182 , 72 L.Ed.2d 606 (1982). The district court’s findings that the…