Melanie Kalmanson and Emily Plakon Author Article for Franchise Law Journal Reviewing Current Landscape of Forum Selection Clause Litigation
Quarles & Brady attorneys Melanie Kalmanson and Emily Plakon, both Tampa-based, authored an article for the Franchise Law Journal that reviews the current landscape of litigation involving the enforcement of forum selection clauses ten years after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Atlantic Marine. The article contains five sections, which go more in depth about the framework, updates and outstanding issues related to forum selection clauses. Kalmanson and Plakon also received the ABA Forum on Franchising Edward Wood (Jack) Dunham Rising Scholar Award for the article.
An excerpt:
The Supreme Court’s 2013 decision in Atlantic Marine greatly clarified how courts should review and analyze the applicability and enforceability of forum selection clauses—including those contained in franchise agreements. Since then, courts across the country have, through extensive litigation, applied the test from Atlantic Marine in various circumstances and address corollary issues that have arisen. But even ten years after the Court’s seemingly definitive decision in Atlantic Marine, several issues related to the enforcement of forum selection clauses remain unsettled. Continued development of the case law is likely due to the frequency that venue issues arise and the importance that litigators place on venue.