Dallas at least beat Marshall last week. Sorta.
The Fifth Circuit last week held, in a 10-7 en banc decision, that a district judge in Marshall, Texas (within the Eastern District) abused his discretion in refusing to transfer a car wreck case 142 miles to Dallas, Texas (the Northern District). Lots of stuff happened in Dallas — including the accident itself — but the case had no connection to the Eastern District of Texas, the majority noted. The strong dissent pointed to the extraordinariness of using mandamus to overturn a discretionary refusal to move venue. In re Volkswagen of Am., Inc., No. 07-40058 (5th Cir. Oct. 10, 2008).
