California Federal Court Ships Fiduciary Duty and Unfair Competition Suit to Delaware Based Upon Forum Selection Clause

Using a forum selection clause to transfer a case out of California federal court may have become easier thanks to a recent order from Judge Koh of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.  In her order, Judge Koh granted defendants’ motion to transfer plaintiff’s complaint to Delaware federal court, finding that the forum selection clauses contained in two agreements were both broadly applicable to tort and statutory claims and enforceable despite allegations that enforcing them would violate California public policy, e.g. the inclusion of an alleged unenforceable jury trial waiver. AJZN, Inc. v. Donald Yu, et al., Case No. 5:12-cv-03348-LHK, (N.D. Cal.)

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