We note with profound sadness the passing of one of the original authors of this column, our dear friend and retired partner Roy L. Reardon. Roy was a giant of the trial bar and a significant contributor to the administration of justice in New York in ways that are too numerous and varied to enumerate here. Writing this column was particularly important to Roy because of the deep respect he had for the Court of Appeals and the pleasure he derived from arguing before its members. Although words are the tools of our trade as trial lawyers, we lack the words to adequately describe what Roy meant to us, to our firm and to the bar.

The Court of Appeals recently addressed the availability of New York as a forum for obtaining justice in a case involving the theft of an Edgar Degas painting stolen by the Nazis during the Holocaust. In Estate of Kainer, et al. v. UBS AG et al., the court affirmed the dismissal of a case on forum non conveniens grounds and, in doing so, reaffirmed that forum non conveniens motions are subject to the broad discretion of the trial court.