U.S. Supreme Court Reaffirms that Forum-Selection Clauses Are Presumptively Enforceable

In Brief

• What procedure should a defendant use to enforce a forum-selection clause when the defendant is sued in a court that is not the contractually selected forum?
• The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Atlantic Marine Construction Co. v. U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas answers this question.
• The court held that the defendant should seek to transfer the case to the court specified in the forum-selection clause by invoking the federal statute that permits transfers of venue.
• If the contract’s forum-selection clause instead specifies a state court as the forum for litigating disputes, the defendant may invoke a different federal statute that requires dismissal or transfer of the case.