Opting Out of Federal Law I: State Choice-of-Law Clauses
Most provisions of federal law are mandatory. One cannot opt out of the tax code, the wire fraud statute, or civil rights laws. There are, however, a handful of federal laws that are not mandatory. These laws expressly state that they shall not apply if private actors write language into their contracts opting out. A…
Continue ReadingPersonal Jurisdiction, Consent, and the Law of Agency
I have long argued – in articles, blog posts, and amicus briefs – that it violates due process to invoke a forum selection clause to obtain personal jurisdiction over a defendant who was not a party to the agreement in which the clause appears. This position has not yet achieved universal acceptance. The state courts in…
Continue ReadingWelcome, Hannah Buxbaum!
We are excited to announce that Hannah Buxbaum has joined us as a TLB editor! Hannah is an esteemed scholar who writes on jurisdiction, extraterritoriality, and other topics related to international litigation and comparative law. Regular readers may recall her posts on anti-suit injunctions and on the Venezuelan deportation litigation. Hannah just joined the law…
Continue ReadingNew Paper on Forum Non Conveniens and Foreign Sovereigns
When a foreign sovereign files a lawsuit in the United States, is it ever appropriate for the court to dismiss on the grounds that it would be more appropriate for the suit to be litigated in that sovereign’s own courts? This is the question that Eunsun Cho set out to answer in a student note…
Continue Reading*Another* Federal Statute Relating to Foreign Judgments
The standard story relating to the enforcement of foreign judgments in the United States goes something like this: There is a special federal statute—the SPEECH Act—that applies to foreign judgments for libel or defamation. The State Department is currently in the process of drafting a federal statute that would implement the Hague Judgments Convention and…
Continue ReadingUsing TLB to Teach Conflict of Laws (2025 Update)
This post updates our series explaining how professors can use resources on TLB to teach various classes. Previous posts have discussed Transnational Litigation, Civil Procedure, Foreign Relations Law, and International Business Transactions. This post discusses Conflict of Laws. All of these posts are accessible at our Teaching Resources page. Primers and Topic Pages Conflict of…
Continue ReadingCalifornia Supreme Court Narrows Grounds for Non-Enforcement of Foreign Forum Selection Clauses
On July 21, 2025, the California Supreme Court issued its first opinion in many years addressing the enforceability of a forum selection clause. In EpicentRx v. Superior Court, it held that the fact that the court named in the clause did not allow for jury trials was not a valid basis for declining to enforce…
Continue ReadingMini-SPEECH Acts
In the United States, it is common for states to enact statutes that mirror those already in operation at the federal level. These state statutes are sometimes described as “mini” versions of a particular federal enactment. A quick internet search turned up references to mini-FTC Acts, mini-WARN Acts, mini-Brooks Acts, and mini-Randolph-Sheppard Acts, among others….
Continue ReadingUtah: A Virtual Gretna Green?
In Jane Austen’s novel, Pride and Prejudice, Lydia Bennet plans to elope to the village of Gretna Green, Scotland with Mr. Wickham. As she explains in a letter: You will laugh when you know where I am gone, and I cannot help laughing myself at your surprise tomorrow morning, as soon as I am missed….
Continue ReadingA Costly Drafting Mistake
When I teach Conflict of Laws, I spend a lot of time showing my class how to draft a good choice-of-law clause. It’s not hard. Everything you need to know is laid out in the Primer on Choice-of-Law Clauses. Unfortunately, these instructions are not always followed. In one recent case, Pool Scouts Franchising LLC v….
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