Jeffrey v. Capital One Bank (USA), N.A.

Filing 20

ORDER granting 10 Motion to Change Venue. The Clerk of Court is directed to transfer this case to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division. Following transfer, the Clerk of Court is directed to close this case. Signed by Judge William T. Moore, Jr on 10/11/16. (loh)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR
THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA
SAVANNAH DIVISION

ROBERT JEFFREY,
on behalf of himself and all
others similarly situated,
Plaintiff,
CASE NO. CV416-218
CAPITAL ONE BANK (USA), N.A.,
Defendant.
ORDER
Before the Court is Defendant's Motion to Transfer
Venue. (Doc. 10.) In the motion, Defendant requests that
the Court transfer the case to the Northern District of
Georgia. (Id.) Plaintiff has stated that he does not oppose
such a transfer. (Doc. 11.)
Plaintiff has alleged a putative national class action
against Defendant for violating the Telephone Consumer
Protection Act by calling individuals on their cellular
telephone with an autodialer after those individuals had
revoked their consent. (Doc. 1.) This case was filed on
August 5, 2016. (Id.) However, a similar case was filed on
November 18, 2015 in the Northern District of Georgia,
Atlanta Division. See Rogers v. Capital One, No. 1:15-cv04016. That case involves plaintiffs residing in Georgia

and Missouri who claim that Defendant called their cell
phones with an autodialer after they had revoked consent.
(Doc. 10 at 2.) Defendant requests that the Court transfer
this case to the Northern District of Georgia to avoid
litigating the two cases in different jurisdictions. (Doc.
10 at 1.)
A case may be transferred to another district where a
related action was first filed. "Where two actions
involving overlapping issues and parties are pending in two
federal courts, there is a strong presumption across the
federal circuits that favors the forum of the first-filed
suit under the first-filed rule." Manuel v. Convergys
Corp., 430 F.3d 1132, 1135 (11th Cir. 2005) (citing United
States Fire Ins. Co. v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., 920
F.2d 487, 488 (8th Cir. 1990) (describing the first-filed
rule as "well-established"); Church of Scientology of Cal.
v. United States Dep't of Def., 611 F.2d 738, 750 (9th Cir.
1979) (noting that the first-filed rule "should not be
disregarded lightly")). Moreover, when a transfer is
requested because of the first-filed rule, the party
objection to jurisdiction carries "the burden of proving
compelling circumstances to warrant an exception to the
first-filed rule." Id. (quotations omitted)

RIA

The Court recognizes that it is appropriate to
transfer this case pursuant to the first-filed rule.
Moreover, the Court concludes that litigating the two cases
in different courts could result in needless burden on
witnesses, the parties, the courts, and jurors and could
result in conflicting decisions. Accordingly, after a
review of the record in this case and considering that
Plaintiff does not object to the transfer, Defendant's
Motion to Transfer Venue (Doc. 10) is GRANTED. The Clerk of
Court is

DIRECTED

to

TRANSFER

this case to the

United

States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia,
Atlanta Division. Following transfer, the Clerk of Court is
DIRECTED to close this case.

SO ORDERED this

day of October 2016.

WILLIAM T. MOORE, J
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA

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