Procedural Posture

Plaintiff partners in a winery appealed the orders from the Superior Court of San Joaquin County (California), which set aside an order that denied a change of venue and granted a change of venue upon the motion of defendant partners in a packing company. Plaintiffs had filed an action to recover damages for a breach of contract for failure of defendants to deliver goods under the contract.

Overview

By a written contract plaintiffs purchased grapes from defendants for the purpose of making wine or other products at a set price. The contract was written by a business litigation lawyer in Los Angeles. Plaintiffs alleged that defendants agreed to deliver the grapes to a winery. Defendants failed to deliver the requisite amount of grapes, so plaintiffs filed suit in the county where the grapes were to be delivered. The court held that said county was an appropriate venue in which to file the suit. Where the contract provided that defendants were to deliver the grapes to the winery, the county of the delivery destination was an appropriate county in which to file. Plaintiffs could also have filed in the county where the contract was entered into and the county where defendants, or any one defendant, resided. But, the trial court had no discretion to change the place of trial on account of the mere residence of one defendant, where the case was properly filed in an appropriate county. Because the price per ton to be paid "roadside" was clearly a separate and distinct contract requirement from the requirement to deliver the grapes at the winery, both provisions had to be given effect, such that delivery was held to be to the county of the winery.

Outcome

The court reversed the trial court's orders.