Forum Selection Clauses

The Comparative Value of Choice of Law and Forum Selection Clauses

Choice-of-law clauses and forum selection clauses routinely come before courts hearing transnational cases. A choice-of-law clause selects a law to govern the contract. A forum selection clause chooses a court in which to resolve disputes. These differences notwithstanding, the two clauses are often discussed in the same breath. Leading casebooks on conflict of laws examine…

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Interpreting Foreign Forum Selection Clauses

What law should a court use to interpret a forum selection clause selecting the courts of a foreign country when the contract also contains a choice-of-law clause selecting the law of that same country? A pair of federal court decisions—one from Illinois, and one from California—recently addressed this question. Neither of these decisions is likely…

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Where is the U.S. International Commercial Court?

Many countries have been setting up domestic courts devoted to international commercial disputes. Why hasn’t the United States? Perhaps because New York courts are already doing that work.

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Exclusive Forum Selection Clauses in the First Circuit

Forum selection clauses are complicated. Under the framework laid down by the U.S. Supreme Court in Atlantic Marine (2013), a clause selecting the courts of another jurisdiction should only be given effect in federal court when it is “contractually valid.” As part of the inquiry into contractual validity, a court must first interpret the clause…

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A Primer on Forum Selection Clauses

A forum selection clause is a contractual provision that selects a specific 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…

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Ingrid (Wuerth) Brunk

Vanderbilt Law School
ingrid.brunk@vanderbilt.eduEmail

William Dodge

George Washington University Law School
william.dodge@law.gwu.eduEmail

Maggie Gardner

Cornell Law School
mgardner@cornell.eduEmail

John F. Coyle

University of North Carolina School of Law
jfcoyle@email.unc.eduEmail

Hannah Buxbaum

UC Davis School of Law
hbuxbaum@ucdavis.eduEmail

Mehrunnisa Chaudhry

George Washington University Law School
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Victoria Pino

Vanderbilt Law School
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Robert Kry

MoloLamken LLP
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Rinat Gareev

Whitecliff Management
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