OPERADORA SERYNA, S.A. DE C.V., ETC., ET AL., APPELLANTS,
v.
BANCO BILBAO VIZCAYA-MEXICO, S.A., ETC., APPELLEE
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Mandatory forum selection clauses, which include a waiver of other jurisdictions, are enforceable.
Banco Bilbao and Opera-dora entered into a contract with a forum selection clause specifying the Federal District of Mexico and waiving other jurisdic…
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HARRIS, J.
Banco Bilbao filed this action in the Ninth Judicial Circuit based on a contract in which the parties thereto had submitted themselves “to the laws in force and the competent courts of the Federal District [of Mexico], waiving any other territorial jurisdiction that they may have.” Opera-dora moved to dismiss on the basis of the mandatory forum selection clause. The trial court found the forum selection clause to be only permissive and denied the motion. We reverse.
Although courts seem reluctant to construe forum selection clauses as mandatory1, it appears that if such construction cannot be avoided, mandatory forum selection agreements are within the power to contract protected by our constitution. See Manrique v. Fabbri, 493 So. 2d 437 (Fla.1986). Here, we cannot avoid the construction that a provision by which the parties agree to a specific forum and, at the same time, waive all other possible forums, is mandatory.
Banco Bilbao also urges that it has no other forum because the courts of the Federal District failed, when requested to do so, to “instruct the Judge of the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court in and for Orange County, Florida, U.S.A., to stop the hearings on this case.” The Mexican court appears to have had before it an earlier agreement which selected Florida as the forum state for any dispute. In any event, we do not read the Mexican court’s order as denying Banco Bilbao a forum in the event Florida does not proceed with the litigation.
REVERSED.
PETERSON and PLEUS, JJ., concur. . See Granados Quinones v. Swiss Bank Corp. (Overseas), S.A., 509 So. 2d 273 (Fla.1987), and Keaty v. Freeport Indonesia, Inc., 503 F. 2d 955 (5th Cir.1974).
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World Vacation Travel, S.A. v. Brooker, 799 So. 2d 410 (Fla. 3d DCA 2001)…use which submits parties to the laws in force and the competent courts of a specific forum and simultaneously waives any other territorial jurisdiction can only be deemed mandatory. See Operadora Seryna, S.A. de C.V. v. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya-Mexico, 762 So. 2d 595, 595-6 (Fla. 5th DCA 2000). In interpreting a contract, All the various provisions of a contract must be so construed, if it can reasonably be done, as to give effect to each. Looking to the other provisions of a contract and to its general scope,…
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Shoppes Ltd. P'ship v. Conn, 829 So. 2d 356 (Fla. 5th DCA 2002)…743 So. 2d 627 (Fla. 1st DCA 1999) (“Any action ... arising out of this Agreement shall be initiated and prosecuted in the court of Shelby County, Tennessee, and nowhere else”); Operadora Seryna, S.A. de C.V. v. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya — Mexico, S.A., 762 So. 2d 595 (Fla. 5th DCA 2000) (parties submitted themselves “to the ... courts of ... [Mexico], waiving any other territorial jurisdiction that they may have”). Paragraph 11, in providing that the “Guarantor hereby consents to the jurisdiction of the state a…
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Golden Palm Hospitality, Inc. v. Stearns Bank Nat'l Ass'n, 874 So. 2d 1231 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004)…nce of a showing that the clause is unreasonable or unjust.”) (citing Management Computer Controls); see also Greenstreet Mgmt., Inc. v. Barker, 833 So. 2d 183 (Fla. 5th DCA 2002); Operadora Seryna, S.A. de C.V. v. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya-Mexico, S.A., 762 So. 2d 595 (Fla. 5th DCA 2000). “Mandatory jurisdiction clauses in contracts ... require that a particular forum be the exclusive jurisdiction for litigation concerning the contract. ...” Shoppes Ltd., 829 So. 2d at 357-58. “As a general principle, a trial cou…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Manrique v. Giorgio Fabbri, 493 So. 2d 437 (Fla. 1986)
- Quinones v. Swiss Bank Corp. (Overseas), S.A., 509 So. 2d 273 (Fla. 1987)
- Keaty v. Freeport Indonesia, Inc., 503 F.2d 955 (5th Cir. 1974)