Opinion ID: 784676
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Interpretation of the Forum-Selection Clause

Text: 11 A lack of venue challenge, based upon a forum-selection clause, is appropriately brought as a Rule 12(b)(3) motion to dismiss. Frietsch v. Refco, Inc., 56 F.3d 825, 830 (7th Cir.1995); Hugel v. Corporation of Lloyd's, 999 F.2d 206, 207 (7th Cir.1993). 2 Our review of the enforceability and applicability of a forum-selection clause, a contractual term used to select a specific venue, is de novo. Hugel, 999 F.2d at 207. In admiralty cases, forum-selection clauses are prima facie valid and should be enforced unless enforcement is shown by the resisting party to be unreasonable under the circumstances. M/S Bremen v. Zapata Off-Shore Co., 407 U.S. 1, 10, 92 S.Ct. 1907, 32 L.Ed.2d 513 (1972). Recognizing this, Continental does not contest the validity of the forum-selection clause. Instead, Continental argues that the district court erred in its application of the clause. Continental insists that they complied with the clause by filing in the Northern District of Illinois because either (1) the clause provides for two equally appropriate venues; or (2) the clause was ambiguous and should be construed against Fednav, the drafter of the bills of lading. We reject both contentions. 12 In each of the three bills of lading, a forum-selection clause limited venue in the following way: 13 Any action by the Merchant arising out of the goods carried under this Bill of Lading shall, whenever the port of loading or the port of discharge named on the face hereof is in the United States of America, be brought only in the United States District Court having admiralty jurisdiction at the USA port of loading or USA port of discharge, as the case may be, to the exclusion of any other Court or forum. 14 (R., Bills of Lading 501, 502, 509). There is nothing unclear or ambiguous about this contractual provision. The clause calls for suit to be brought in the district court with admiralty jurisdiction at the point of loading or discharge; that single court is the proper forum to the exclusion of all others. 15 It is uncontested that all three shipments of steel were loaded in Belgium, and were discharged at Burns Harbor. It is uncontested that the district court properly took judicial notice of the fact that Burns Harbor is geographically located in Porter County, Indiana. (Dist. Ct. Op. 8.) The Northern District of Indiana, Hammond Division, encompasses Porter County. 28 U.S.C. § 94(a)(3). Of course, the Northern District of Illinois does not include any part of Indiana. 28 U.S.C. § 93(a). There is neither an option to file in multiple venues nor an ambiguity in the forum-selection clause. 16 Continental makes much of the fact that, under customs regulations, Burns Harbor is considered to be within the Port of Chicago. 19 C.F.R. § 101.3; Bureau of Customs, Decision 71-121, Fed.Reg. (May 3, 1971). We agree with the district court that this useful legal and commercial fiction has nothing to do with proper admiralty jurisdiction in federal district courts, and therefore nothing to do with the forum-selection clause at issue.