Opinion ID: 2834006
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Mandamus Relief on These Facts Is Appropriate

Text: AutoNation seeks a writ of mandamus directing the trial court to dismiss this suit and thereby enforce the forum-selection clause in the parties’ non- compete agreement. [11] In In re Prudential Insurance Co. of America , we reaffirmed that mandamus relief will lie if the relator establishes a clear abuse of discretion for which there is no adequate appellate remedy. [12] Mandamus relief is available to enforce forum-selection clauses. In In re AIU Insurance Co. , decided the same day as Prudential , we recognized that such clauses generally “should be given full effect” and “should control absent a strong showing that [they] should be set aside.” [13] We observed that “[s] ubjecting a party to trial in a forum other than that agreed upon and requiring an appeal to vindicate the rights granted in a forum-selection clause is clear harassment” [14] —harassment that injures not just the non-breaching party but the broader judicial system, injecting inefficiency by enabling forum-shopping, wasting judicial resources, delaying adjudication on the merits, and skewing settlement dynamics contrary to the parties’ contracted-for expectations. [15] Accordingly, forum-selection clauses—like arbitration agreements, “another type of forum-selection clause”—can be enforced through mandamus. [16] A few months later, in In re Automated Collection Technologies, Inc. , we again held that failure to enforce a contractual forum-selection clause “constitutes a clear abuse of discretion for which there is no adequate remedy by appeal.” [17] We therefore granted mandamus relief and directed the trial court to dismiss the suit. We held that enforcement of a forum-selection clause is “mandatory” unless the opposing party clearly shows that enforcement would be unreasonable or unjust, or that the clause is invalid for reasons such as fraud or overreaching. [18] And in Automated Collection Technologies , unlike here, there was no first-filed lawsuit in the parties’ agreed forum.