Opinion ID: 3049219
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Ill Analysis

Text: At the outset, the Court finds that the contracts and underlying transactions in this case are truly and fundamentally international. Seeki at 1293 & n.14, 1295. Plaintiffs, the buyers in the respective contracts, are all American residents, see Complaint at 2-4, whereas Defendant Ginn-La, the seller in each contract, is a Bahamian corporation, at 5, 24-27; see also Contracts, attached as Exhibits C-K to Complaint. The contracts were negotiated in the United States, but the closings apparently took place partially in the United States and partially in the Bahamas. Complaint at 23. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the subject matter of the contracts each concerns the sale of real property in the Bahamas. See at 2-4. Accordingly, the contracts are truly international, and the 5 Case 3:08-cv-01217-MMH-JRK Document 189 Filed 03/31/10 Page 6 of 26 enforceability of the choice clauses therein is governed by the Bremen test. Lipcon, 148 F.3d at 1293 n.14 (finding it clear that the agreement in this case is 'truly international, where 'the parties to the agreement are from different countries, the negotiations leading up to the agreement took place in the United States whereas the closing took place in England, and the subject matter of the transaction concerned investment in an international insurance market). Plaintiffs in this case argue that the forum-selection clauses are unreasonable under three of the four Bremen factors-specifically, that the clauses are the product of fraud and overreaching, that they will deprive Plaintiffs of a full and fair hearing of their ILSA claims,9 and that they contravene the strong public policy articulated in ILSA, . Response at 2- 12. The Court addresses these arguments in turn. However, before applying the Bremen factors, the Court briefly considers whether the forum-selection clauses at issue are negotiated or non-negotiated, and also addresses the contractual specifications as to the governing law. The analysis with respect to whether a forum-selection clause is enforceable varies slightly depending on whether the clause was negotiated or non-negotiated. Carnival Cruise Lines, Inc. v. Shute, 499 U.S. 585, 592-93 (1991) (contrasting analysis of negotiated forum-selection clause with non-negotiated forum-selection clause). Although the same general analysis applies-both negotiated and non-negotiated forum-selection clauses are presumptively valid and will be invalidated only upon a strong showing that one of the four t is unclear to the Court whether this argument is tailored to the second or third Bremen factor. 6 Case 3:08-cv-01217-MMH-JRK Document 189 Filed 03/31/10 Page 7 of 26 factors in the Brernen test makes the clause at issue unreasonable-with respect to nonnegotiated forum-selection clauses, courts consider whether the clause was reasonably communicated to the consumer by employing a two-part test of 'reasonable communicativeness[,] which takes into account the clause's physical characteristics and whether the plaintiffs had the ability to become meaningfully informed of the clause and to reject its terms. Krenkel v. Kerzner Int'l Hotels Ltd., 579 F.3d 1279, 1281 (11th Cir. 2009)