Court Opinion

ID: 9785523
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-30 22:07:48.317799+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:36:27.889967
License: Public Domain

HOWE, Chief Justice,
concurring in the result:
20 I concur in the result. The issue in this case as to the enforceability of a forum selection clause was decided by this court in Prows v. Pinpoint Retail Systems, Inc., 868 P.2d 809 (Utah 1998). In that case, we adopted section 80 of the Second Restate ment of Conflict of Laws, which provides that "the parties' agreement as to the place of the action will be given effect unless it is unfair or unreasonable." We stated that under this section, a plaintiff who brings an action in violation of a choice of forum provision bears the burden of proving that enforcing the clause is unfair or unreasonable. In that case, the forum selection clause provided that "all legal proceedings relating to the subject matter of this Agreement shall be maintained in courts sitting in the borough of Manhattan, in the city of New York." We held that that provision was unfair and unreasonable because none of the parties had any connection with New York. A Utah plaintiff was bringing suit against a Utah defendant and a Canadian defendant. The agreement sued upon was signed in Utah, was to be performed in Utah, and the alleged breach and tortious conduct occurred here. In other words, all relevant contacts occurred in Utah, and as a consequence, we held Utah was the only state with an interest in the action.
{21 In the instant case, I would enforce the forum selection clause because it has not been shown to be unfair or unreasonable. As set out in the opinion of Justice Durham, the parties and the contract have a significant nexus to Utah.
I 22 I concur that the consent to jurisdiction clause in this case is enforceable for the reasons stated in Justice Durham's opinion.