Abstract
This Note examines the current disarray of federal forum-selection clause jurisprudence. Theoretically, a forum-selection clause can provide a degree of stability and predictability to a contractual relationship by limiting where the parties can sue or be sued under the contract. Unfortunately, a lack of Supreme Court guidance and the absence of a federal rule or statue on point have created confusion and varying approaches among lower federal courts as to how they should treat such clauses. This Note outlines the various approaches that federal courts currently employ when enforcing valid exclusive forumselection clauses, and it highlights the strengths and weaknesses of each approach. It then proposes a simple, uniform solution that is aimed at abrogating the current confusion among federal courts in order to allow exclusive forum-selection clauses to perform their central function—to provide predictability, stability, and foreseeability to contractual relationships regarding where litigation may occur.
Recommended Citation
Maxwell J. Wright,
Enforcing Forum-Selection Clauses: An Examination of the Current Disarray of Federal Forum-Selection Clause Jurisprudence and a Proposal for Judicial Reform ,
44 Loy. L.A. L. Rev. 1625
(2011).
Available at: https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/llr/vol44/iss4/8
