Parsing Invalidating Statutes (Part II)
In a prior post, I argued that the precise language used in state statutes purporting to invalidate choice-of-law clauses and forum selection clauses can have outsized effects in litigation. In this post, I continue this discussion by highlighting several statutes that purport to invalidate choice-of-law clauses in insurance contracts. Although these statutes all have the…
Continue ReadingParsing Invalidating Statutes (Part I)
In previous posts, I have written about how the precise language used in a choice-of-law or forum selection clause can prove consequential in litigation. In this post, I argue that the precise language used in state statutes purporting to invalidate these clauses can likewise have an outsized effect. There are hundreds of state statutes that…
Continue ReadingOptionality in Choice of Law
Choice-of-law clauses are sometimes described as tools for reducing legal uncertainty. This characterization, while correct, is incomplete. In cases where the suit is brought in a jurisdiction other than the one named in the choice-of-law clause, it is sometimes more accurate to think of the clause as an option. Either litigant may, if it so…
Continue ReadingAudio Content on TLB!
We are beginning to offer audio versions of some posts! We kick off the initiative with John Coyle’s recording of his post A Primer on Choice-of-Law Clauses. Choice of law and choice of law clauses are important issues in any legal system, ones that help students understand both contracts and civil procedure. Now students, foreign…
Continue ReadingDrafting the Opinion in Great Lakes
Over the past six years, I have spent a lot of time thinking about choice-of-law clauses. I have written about how to interpret them, about their extraterritorial effect, about their history, and about why insurance companies frequently omit them from their policies. If a pub were ever to host a trivia night devoted to choice-of-law…
Continue ReadingThe CISG and Choice-of-Law Clauses
Although the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) has been in force for over 35 years, there is still scholarly disagreement as to how this treaty interacts with choice-of-law clauses (see, e.g., the discussion on this blog: Coyle, Brand and Flechtner, Hayward and Lal). In principle, there seems to…
Continue ReadingBinding Non-Signatories to Service-of-Process Clauses
I have previously blogged about attempts to bind non-signatories to choice-of-law clauses and forum selection clauses via the closely-related-and-foreseeable doctrine. My general take is that while it is sometimes appropriate to rely on this doctrine in cases involving forum selection clauses, it is never appropriate to rely on it to bind a non-signatory to a…
Continue ReadingMissed Opportunities in Great Lakes
In the 1994 film, Clerks, the main character works at a quick-stop grocery store in New Jersey. On his day off, he gets a call from his boss asking him to cover the shift of another employee. As he grapples with a stream of difficult customers during the course of this unexpected shift, he keeps…
Continue ReadingThoughts on the Respondent’s Brief in Great Lakes
In a prior post, I surveyed the facts, procedural history, and potential significance of Great Lakes Insurance SE v. Raiders Retreat Realty Co., LLC, an upcoming Supreme Court case about the enforceability of choice-of-law clauses in maritime insurance contracts. In a subsequent post, I shared some thoughts about the brief filed by the petitioner, Great Lakes Insurance SE (GLI). In this…
Continue ReadingDrawing Inferences from CISG Opt-Outs
The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) and the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) both supply rules to govern contracts for the sale of goods. The UCC applies to purely domestic transactions. The CISG applies to many international transactions. When a contract involves the mixed sale of goods and services,…
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