A Troubling Decision in the Fifth Circuit
The Fifth Circuit has issued a number of opinions over the years relating to the enforceability of forum selection clauses in transnational cases. Its recent decision in Matthews v. Tidewater, Inc. is among the most troubling. Background The plaintiff, Marek Matthews, worked as a seaman and captain from 1982 to 2016 on offshore supply vessels…
Continue ReadingThe Sixth Circuit Tackles Forum Selection Clauses
When U.S. judges fight about forum selection clauses, they tend to fight about one of two things. First, they fight about whether a federal court sitting in diversity should apply state or federal law to determine whether a clause is valid and enforceable. Second, they fight about whether a non-signatory may be bound by a…
Continue ReadingTexas, Insurance Contracts, and Foreign Forum Selection Clauses
A pair of recent Fifth Circuit cases — both involving damage to yachts — suggest that that court will enforce foreign forum selection clauses even when they appear in insurance contracts. This post first describes these cases. It then queries whether enforcing foreign forum selection clauses against Texas policyholders is, in fact, consistent with the…
Continue ReadingThe Use and Abuse of Section 1782 Litigation in England
This post considers the use and misuse in England of the U.S. district court’s power under 28 U.S.C. § 1782 to order a person to give evidence or produce documents for use in a proceeding in a foreign tribunal. It is based upon a paper written for a conference honouring Professor Linda Silberman, a close…
Continue ReadingA New Frontier for Extraterritorial Disclosure Orders in England & Wales
In October 2022, an amendment to the Civil Procedure Rules in England established a new jurisdiction for limited extraterritorial disclosure orders (“information orders”). While the High Court of Justice (the “High Court”) had made steps (in ex parte applications) towards the granting of such orders in the last few years, the new rules and a…
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