Tally Well Service, Inc. v. Mountain State Steel Foundries, Inc.
Tally Well Service, Inc. v. Mountain State Steel Foundries, Inc.
Opinion of the Court
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
On October 6,1982, the Plaintiff instituted this action seeking to recover monetary damages for the aggregate value of the services allegedly rendered and the materials allegedly purchased by the Plaintiff for the use and benefit of the Defendant, Mountain State Steel Foundries, Inc. (Mountain State), in connection with the Plaintiff’s allegedly authorized attempt to restore Mountain State’s gas well. Plaintiff further seeks to recover compensatory and punitive damages from Mountain State and a number of other Defendants for having allegedly conspired to deprive the Plaintiff of the aforementioned sum. Prior to the commencement of this action, however, Mountain State commenced a civil action in the Circuit Court of Wood County, West Virginia, against the Plaintiff at bar and three other drilling companies, seeking to recover monetary damages for the failure of its gas well venture which allegedly resulted from the negligence of the state court defendants. Currently pending before this Court is the Defendants’ motion to stay further proceedings in this action, pending the resolution of the state court action. For the reasons set out below, the Court hereby denies the Defendants’ motion for a stay.
In ruling on the Defendants’ motion for a stay, the Court is called upon to strike the appropriate balance between its “virtually unflagging obligation ... to exercise [its] jurisdiction,” on the one hand, and “wise judicial administration, giving regard to conservation of judicial resources and comprehensive disposition of litigation,” on the other. In striking this balance, the Court is mindful of the general rule that the pendency of a state court action is not a bar to proceedings concerning the same matter in a federal court having concurrent jurisdiction. See Colorado River Water Conservation District v. U.S., 424 U.S. 800, 817, 96 S.Ct. 1236, 1246, 47 L.Ed.2d 483 (1976). In light of this general rule, only a finding of exceptional circumstances would warrant abstention in this action.
Among the exceptional circumstances which this Court may consider in an in personam action, such as the one at bar is: (1) the inconvenience of the federal forum; (2) the desirability of avoiding piecemeal litigation; and (3) the order in which jurisdiction was obtained by the concurrent forums. See Colorado River Water Conservation District v. U.S., supra at 818, 96 S.Ct. at 1246-47. In weighing these factors, “[n]o one factor is necessarily determinative; a carefully considered judgment taking into account both the obligation to exercise jurisdiction and the combination of factors counselling against that exercise is required.” Id. at 818-19, 96 S.Ct. at 1247.
The Clerk is directed to send a certified copy of this Memorandum Opinion and Order to counsel of record.
Cf., Bluefield Sash & Door v. Corte Construction Co., 216 S.E.2d 216 (W.Va. 1975), overruled on other grounds Haynes v. City of Nitro, 240 S.E.2d 544 (W.Va. 1977).
Reference
- Full Case Name
- TALLY WELL SERVICE, INC. v. MOUNTAIN STATE STEEL FOUNDRIES, INC.
- Status
- Published