Delaware Business Litigation Report

Supreme Court Upholds Forum Selection Clause

National Industries Group v. Carlyle Investment Management LLC,  No. 586, 2012 (May 29, 2013)

This is an important decision because it upholds the power of the Delaware Court of Chancery to enforce by an injunction the forum selection clause in a contract.  Previously, there was some doubt under the existing case law whether such an injunction would issue, but, at least among sophisticated litigants, there is no doubt any more.  Note that the clause in question provided that a "court in Delaware" would hear any dispute.  A clause that attempted to vest jurisdiction only in the Court of Chancery is questionable because a contract alone cannot confer jurisdiction on that court with its limited equity jurisdiction.

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