Forum Selection Clauses

A forum selection clause is a contractual provision that selects a court to resolve disputes. When suit is filed in a jurisdiction that is not the chosen forum, the clause may provide a basis for dismissal or transfer. When suit is filed in the chosen forum, the clause may provide a basis for asserting personal jurisdiction over the defendant.

A Primer on Forum Selection Clauses

By John F. Coyle

March 26, 2022 posted in: Forum Selection Clauses

A forum selection clause is a contractual provision that selects a court to resolve disputes. When suit is filed in a court that is not the chosen forum, the clause may provide a basis for dismissal or transfer. When suit is filed in the chosen forum, the clause may provide a basis for the assertion…

Recent Posts

Clause Confusion (Part II)

By John F. Coyle

August 4, 2026 posted in: Forum Selection Clauses

In a prior post, I showed that lawyers sometimes fail to distinguish choice-of-law clauses from forum selection clauses. In this post, I provide several examples of cases where judges made precisely the same mistake. In some of these cases, these errors were harmless. In others, they were not. Harmless Error There are a multitude of…

Clause Confusion (Part I)

By John F. Coyle

July 30, 2026 posted in: Forum Selection Clauses

There are many things in life that resemble something else. Some people struggle to distinguish alligators from crocodiles. Others have a hard time telling the difference between butterflies and moths. I myself cannot taste the difference between Coke and Pepsi… a fact that horrifies my family. All of these mistakes are both understandable and forgivable….

Trademarks and Foreign Forum Selection Clauses

By John F. Coyle

June 17, 2026 posted in: Forum Selection Clauses

The task of deciding whether a forum selection clause should be given effect can be burdensome. A federal court must evaluate whether the clause is valid. It must interpret the clause to determine whether it is exclusive and covers the claims asserted. And it must assess whether the clause is enforceable under the test laid…

Restatement (Second) of Conflict of Laws § 80

Model Choice of Forum Act

Statutes Directing Courts to Enforce Forum Selection Clauses

Statutes Directing Courts to Ignore Forum Selection Clauses

The Bremen v. Zapata Off-Shore Co., 407 U.S. 1 (1972)

Carnival Cruise Lines, Inc. v. Shute, 499 U.S. 585 (1991)

Atlantic Marine Construction Co. v. U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, 571 U.S. 49 (2013)

John F. Coyle & Tanya Monestier, Limits on Damages for Breach of a Forum Selection Clause, 66 Santa Clara L. Rev. 94 (2026) (Santa Clara)

John F. Coyle, Financial Hardship and Forum Selection Clauses, 103 N.C. L. Rev. 641 (2025) (SSRN)

John F. Coyle & F. Andrew Hessick, Erie and Forum Selection Clauses, 2024 U. Ill. L. Rev. 777 (2024) (SSRN)

John F. Coyle. "Contractually Valid" Forum Selection Clauses, 108 Iowa L. Rev. 127 (2022) (SSRN)

Gary B. Born, The Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements: A Critical Assessment, 169 U. Penn. L. Rev. 2079 (2021) (Penn)

John F. Coyle & Robin J. Effron, Forum Selection Clauses, Non-Signatories, and Personal Jurisdiction, 97 Notre Dame L. Rev. 187 (2021) (SSRN)

John F. Coyle & Katherine C. Richardson, Enforcing Outbound Forum Selection Clauses in State Court, 96 Ind. L.J. 1089 (2021) (SSRN)

John F. Coyle & Katherine C. Richardson, Enforcing Inbound Forum Selection Clauses in State Court, 53 Ariz. St. L.J. 65 (2021) (SSRN)

John F. Coyle, Cruise Contracts, Public Policy, and Foreign Forum Selection Clauses, 75 U. Miami L. Rev. 1087 (2021) (SSRN)

Tanya J. Monestier, Damages for Breach of a Forum Selection Clause, 58 Am. Bus. L.J. 271 (2021) (SSRN)

Cara Reichard, Keeping Litigation at Home: The Role of States in Preventing Unjust Choice of Forum, 129 Yale L.J. 866 (2020) (Yale)

Kevin M. Clermont, Reconciling Forum-Selection and Choice-of-Law Clauses, 69 American University Law Review Forum 171 (2020) (Cornell)

John F. Coyle, Interpreting Forum Selection Clauses, 104 Iowa L. Rev. 1791 (2019) (SSRN)

Julian Nyarko, We’ll See You in . . . Court! The Lack of Arbitration Clauses in International Commercial Contracts, 58 Int’l Rev. L. & Econ. 6 (2019) (SSRN)

John F. Coyle & Christopher R. Drahozal, An Empirical Study of Dispute Resolution Clauses in International Supply Contracts, 52 Vand. J. Transnat’l L. 323 (2019) (SSRN)

Alex Mills, Party Autonomy in Private International Law (2018) (Cambridge)

Hannah L. Buxbaum, The Interpretation and Effect of Permissive Forum Selection Clauses Under U.S. Law, 66 Am. J. Comp. L. 127 (2018) (Indiana)

Symeon C. Symeonides, What Law Governs Forum Selection Clauses, 78 La. L. Rev. 1119 (2018) (SSRN)

Stephen E. Sachs, The Forum Selection Defense, 10 Duke J. Const. L. & Pub. Pol’y 1 (2015) (Duke)

Kevin M. Clermont, Governing Law on Forum-Selection Agreements, 66 Hastings L.J. 643 (2015) (SSRN)

Matthew J. Sorensen, Enforcement of Forum-Selection Clauses in Federal Court After Atlantic Marine, 82 Fordham L. Rev. 2521 (2014) (Fordham)

Walter W. Heiser, The Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements: The Impact on Forum Non Conveniens, Transfer of Venue, Removal, and Recognition of Judgments in United States Courts, 31 U. Pa. J. Int’l L. 1013 (2010) (Penn)

David Marcus, The Perils of Contract Procedure: A Revised History of Forum Selection Clauses in the Federal Courts, 82 Tul. L. Rev. 973 (2008) (Tulane)

Peter R. Silverman & James H. O’Doherty, Float Like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Bee: The Lure of Floating Forum Selection Clauses, 27 Franchise L.J. 119 (2007) (Shumaker)

Hannah L. Buxbaum, Forum Selection in International Contract Litigation: The Role of Judicial Discretion, 12 Willamette J. Int’l L. & Disp. Resol. 185 (2004) (SSRN)

David H. Taylor, The Forum Selection Clause: A Tale of Two Concepts, 66 Temp. L. Rev. 785 (1993) (SSRN)

Patrick J. Borchers, Forum Selection Agreements in the Federal Courts After Carnival Cruise: A Proposal for Congressional Reform, 67 Wash. L. Rev. 55 (1992) (Washington)

Edward A. Purcell, Jr., Geography as a Litigation Weapon: Consumers, Forum-Selection Clauses, and the Rehnquist Court, 40 UCLA L. Rev. 423 (1992) (NYLS)

Linda S. Mullenix, Another Easy Case, Some More Bad Law: Carnival Cruise Lines and Contractual Personal Jurisdiction, 27 Tex. Int’l L.J. 323 (1992) (SSRN)

Lee Goldman, My Way and the Highway: The Law and Economics of Choice of Forum Clauses in Consumer Form Contracts, 86 Nw. U. L. Rev. 700 (1992)

Leandra Lederman, Viva Zapata!: Toward a Rational System of Forum-Selection Clause Enforcement in Diversity Cases, 66 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 422 (1991) (Indiana)

Robert A. de By, Forum Selection Clauses: Substantive or Procedural for Erie Purposes, 89 Colum. L. Rev. 1068 (1989) (JSTOR)

Linda S. Mullenix, Another Choice of Forum, Another Choice of Law: Consensual Adjudicatory Procedure in Federal Court, 57 Fordham L. Rev. 291 (1988) (Texas)

Michael Gruson, Forum-Selection Clauses in International and Interstate Commercial Agreements, 1982 U. Ill. L. Rev. 133

James T. Gilbert, Choice of Forum Clauses in International and Interstate Contracts, 65 Ky. L.J. 1 (1976) (Kentucky)

Willis L. M. Reese, The Model Choice of Forum Act, 17 Am. J. Comp. L. 292 (1969) (Oxford)