Ferens et Ux. v. John Deere Co., Aka Deere & Co.
Decided March 5, 1990. Anthony McLeod Kennedy delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 88-1512 · 494 U.S. 516 (1990) · Cited 494 times
Holding
The policies underlying Van Dusen, as well as other considerations, require a transferee forum to apply the law of the transferor court, regardless of who initiated the transfer.
The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.
How the Justices voted
Decided 5–4.
Majority · 5
- Anthony McLeod Kennedy · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Byron Raymond White
- John Paul Stevens
- Sandra Day O'Connor
- William Hubbs Rehnquist
Dissenting · 4
- Antonin Scalia · filed a dissenting opinion
- Harry Andrew Blackmun
- Thurgood Marshall
- William Joseph Brennan Jr.
“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.
Precedents cited
Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.
- Van Dusen v. Barrack · 376 U.S. 612 (1964)
- Klaxon Co. v. Stentor Electric Manufacturing Co. · 313 U.S. 487 (1941)
- Erie Railroad v. Tompkins · 304 U.S. 64 (1938)
- Gulf Oil Corp. v. Gilbert · 330 U.S. 501 (1947)
- Stewart Organization, Inc. v. Ricoh Corp. · 487 U.S. 22 (1988)
- Continental Grain Co. v. Barge FBL-585 · 364 U.S. 19 (1960)
- Sun Oil Co. v. Wortman · 486 U.S. 717 (1988)
- Piper Aircraft Co. v. Reyno · 454 U.S. 235 (1981)
- Hanna v. Plumer · 380 U.S. 460 (1965)
- Guaranty Trust Co. v. York · 326 U.S. 99 (1945)
- Day & Zimmermann, Inc. v. Challoner · 423 U.S. 3 (1975)
- Griffin v. McCoach · 313 U.S. 498 (1941)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Atlantic Marine Constr. Co. v. United States Dist. Court for Western Dist. of Tex. · 571 U.S. 49 (2013)
- Burnham v. Superior Court of Cal., County of Marin · 495 U.S. 604 (1990)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
Explore from here
Anthony McLeod Kennedy’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court
Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1990). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).