Court Opinion

ID: 9714775
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 05:45:21.039289+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:23:28.452481
License: Public Domain

*587O’Connor, J.
(dissenting). The “service of suit” clause in the applicable insurance policies typically provides as follows: “It is agreed that in the event of the failure of Underwriters hereon to pay any amount claimed to be due hereunder, Underwriters hereon, at the request of the Assured, will submit to the jurisdiction of any Court of competent jurisdiction within the United States and will comply with all requirements necessary to give such Court jurisdiction and all matters arising hereunder shall be determined in accordance with the law and practice of such Court.” Ante at 579 n.10. The Superior Court judge reasoned that the clause did not apply in this case because, by its terms, the clause would operate only “in the event of the failure of Underwriters [on the policy] to pay any amount claimed to be due [under the policy].” Id. The plaintiff does not allege that the underwriters have failed to pay claims, but simply seeks a declaration that the defendants are obliged to defend the plaintiff against third-party claims and to indemnify the plaintiff if its liability should be established. The judge reasoned that the event that triggers operation of the service of suit clause has not occurred and that, therefore, the clause is irrelevant to the present proceedings. The judge dismissed the action on forum non conveniens grounds without reference to the service of suit clause.
This court affirms, but not for the reason that the service of suit clause has not been triggered. Indeed, the court “assume [s] that Grace is entitled to a declaration of its rights as to the service of suit clause . . . .” Ante at 511 n.11. The court affirms in part because of its conclusion that dismissal on forum non conveniens grounds is not prevented by the service of suit provision. I am satisfied (beyond mere assumption) that it is appropriate for the court to declare the rights *588of the parties under the service of suit clause. However, differently from the court, I would hold that that clause, fairly construed, prevents dismissal of this action on forum non conveniens grounds, and I would reinstate the action.
Surely, as the court recognizes, the service of suit provision obliges the defendants to submit to the jurisdiction of any court in the United States in which the plaintiff brings an action. That much is accomplished by the agreement that the underwriters “will submit to the jurisdiction of any Court of competent jurisdiction within the United States and will comply with all requirements necessary to give such Court jurisdiction.” That provision, however, is followed by other words to which meaning also must be assigned if reasonably possible. Those words are “and all matters arising hereunder shall be determined in accordance with the law and practice of such Court” (emphasis added). The court states, ante at 580, that a “ ‘determination in accordance with the law and practice’ of the court that the insured has selected refers to the whole law of the jurisdiction, including principles of forum non conveniens and rules governing the choice of law.” That cannot be. If the parties have agreed that the law and practice of the selected court control the determination whether that court is an appropriate forum, as the court says they have, and if the selected court concludes, as the judge concluded here, that the selected court is not an appropriate forum and dismisses the case, the parties’ expectation that all matters under the policy will be determined by the selected court is defeated. As matters now stand in the present case, all matters arising under the policies will not be determined by the selected court. In fact, none of them will. The principal issues raised by this case relate to coverage. Unless the judgment of dismissal is reversed, all matters relating to coverage will have to be determined, if at all, not in the court selected by the plaintiff, the Massachusetts Superior Court, but instead in the courts of another State and probably in accordance with the laws and practice of that other State. Such a result clearly departs from the expressed intention of the parties.
*589The inherent contradiction that results from construing the service of suit clause to mean that the “ ‘determination in accordance with the law and practice’ of the court that the insured has selected refers to the whole law of the jurisdiction, including principles of forum non conveniens and rules governing the choice of law,” strongly suggests that such a construction is incorrect. Furthermore, such a construction is entirely unnecessary. The relevant clause does not say that all matters that may arise in the litigation shall be determined in accordance with the law and practice of the selected court; it says that all matters “arising hereunder,” that is, under the policy, shall be so determined. Questions of coverage arise under the policy, but the question whether the Massachusetts Superior Court is a convenient forum in which to resolve those questions is not such a question. The proper interpretation of the service of suit clause is that the plaintiff may invoke the jurisdiction of any competent court in the United States, the defendants will submit to the jurisdiction of that court, and all matters bearing on coverage (arising under the policy) will be determined under the substantive law and the practice of that court, which in this case is the Superior Court of Massachusetts.1
The court makes the point that “a private agreement between parties cannot preclude consideration of the public interest component of [the doctrine of forum non conveniens].” Ante at 581. I agree with that observation, but, in my view, the observation has little to do with this case. The court does not suggest that it is refusing to enforce the parties’ agreement because of public interest concerns or that the judge *590below was exclusively motivated by the public factor. The court simply construes the agreement, incorrectly I believe, to include submission to the selected court’s determination of forum non conveniens principles and choice of law rules. In any event, since all matters arising under the policies in this case ought to be determined in accordance with the substantive law and practice of Massachusetts, and since the parties and the dispute are associated with Massachusetts in the numerous ways recognized in the court’s opinion, public interest considerations standing alone clearly would not justify dismissal of the action.
I would reverse the judgment of dismissal and remand the case to the Superior Court for further proceedings.

The court observes that, if the parties to an agreement want to permit an insured to pick the forum and the law to be applied regardless of circumstances, they should say so. Ante at 582 n.14. I agree. Here, the parties said so. They specified in their agreements that “all matters arising [under the agreements] shall be determined in accordance with the law and practice of [the court selected by the insured].” The court fails to suggest how an agreement that the insured can select the forum and the law to be applied could be better drafted. The court also fails to explain how the parties’ intention as expressed in the policies is fulfilled by the selected court’s refusal to decide all matters arising under the policies.