Alfred Gerome Nelson and Vida Nelson v. International Paint Company

Appellants, Alfred and Vida Nelson, seek review of the district court’s dismissal of their products liability claim on the ground that the statute of limitations has run. Jurisdiction in the federal district court existed by virtue of diversity of citizenship. 28 U.S.C. § 1382 . Appellants argue that the district court erred in looking to the choice of law rules of the forum state, California, and that the court should have applied the rules of Texas, the state from which their claim was transferred. Appellants also contend that the district court should have tolled the statute of limitations in this case by relying on an equitable exception to the statute. We reject these arguments and affirm.

I.

FACTS

Alfred Nelson was injured on June 30, 1978, when he inhaled toxic fumes while painting over a weld at a construction site in Kodiak, Alaska. Nelson alleges that his injury was caused by defectively designed paint.

Shortly after his injury, Nelson returned to his native Texas, where he employed Texas counsel to file a products liability action against the manufacturer of the paint. The Texas counsel contacted an Alaska attorney, and arranged for him to sue the paint manufacturer…