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Forum-Selection Clauses: Should State Or Federal Law Determine Validity In Diversity Actions?—Stewart Organization, Inc. V. Ricoh Corp., 108 S. Ct. 2239 (1998), Eric Fahlman

Washington Law Review

Forum-selection clauses are contractual provisions that confine future litigation to particular courts. Such clauses are common in interstate contracts despite uncertainty concerning their validity. Before Stewart Organization, Inc. v. Ricoh Corp., the circuit courts were divided as to whether federal courts with diversity jurisdiction were compelled to determine forum-selection clause validity in accordance with state law, as directed by Erie R.R. Co. v. Tompkins. In Stewart, the United States Supreme Court ruled that federal courts did not have to apply state law. Instead, the court held that the federal transfer statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a), governed forum-selection clause validity. A …