Forum Selection Clauses When Venue Transfer Is Not Available
Normally, when a federal court is presented with a forum selection clause, the correct procedural mechanism is to seek a change of venue under 28 U.S.C. ยง1404. In a motion to transfer venue, a party asks one federal district court to transfer the case to another federal district court. But, what happens if the forum selection clause requires disputes to be resolved in some particular state court? The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee recently addressed this question in May v. Ticketmaster Entertainment, LLC, 2010 WL 4024257 (M.D. Tenn. Oct. 13, 2010).
By The Quantum Physics of Venue
Which is more complicated, quantum physics or venue? In quantum mechanics, the theory of “photon superposition” hypothesizes that sub-atomic particles can exist in multiple places and states simultaneously. As the recent case of iLight Technologies, Inc. v. Marktech International Corp., 2010 WL 1946950 (M.D. Tenn. May 10, 2010) demonstrates, the concept of existing in two places at once also applies to venue, albeit not at a sub-atomic level.