V-1 Oil Co. v. Ranck

On a writ of certiorari petitioner V-1 Oil Company (V-1) seeks a stay of proceedings in a negligence action it filed in the Ninth Judicial District, Fremont County, Wyoming. See W.R.A.P. 13.01 (Cum.Supp. 1988). Respondent, the Honorable Robert B. Ranck, District Judge of that district, was assigned to the case. V-1 seeks the stay pending the outcome of a similar lawsuit set for trial in state district court in Rich County, Utah. V-1 filed its action in both Wyoming and Utah to protect its claim against an alleged tortfeasors estate, the assets of which are located in Wyoming. V-1s uncertainty about which court has jurisdiction of the negligence action results from the ambiguity of the phrase "proper court" which appears in W.S. 2-7-718 (July 1980 Repl.).