Civil Procedure – Forum Non Conveniens – Judicial Adoption of Doctrine When Statue of Limitations Has Run Elsewhere

Plaintiff, a Missouri resident, brought suit in Arkansas against defendant, a Missouri corporation authorized to do business in Arkansas, for injuries received in an accident in Illinois. Plaintiff had filed and dismissed an action in Missouri, and the statute of limitations had run in Illinois. Defendant’s motion for dismissal on grounds of forum non conveniens was granted by the trial court. On appeal, held, reversed and remanded, one justice dissenting. Although the trial court could in its discretion refuse jurisdiction on the grounds of forum non conveniens, there was insufficient evidence in this case upon which a dismissal could be based. A concurring justice, joining in the decision to remand on the grounds that the trial court had no power to refuse jurisdiction, argued that a legislative enactment would be required to establish the doctrine in Arkansas. Clifton Running v. Southwest Freight Lines, Inc., (Ark. 1957) 303 S.W. (2d) 578.