MCWANE, INC., APPELLANT,
v.
WATER MANAGEMENT SERVICES, INC., A FLORIDA CORPORATION, CONSOLIDATED PIPE & SUPPLY COMPANY, INC., A FOREIGN CORPORATION, BOH BROS. CONSTRUCTION CO., LLC, A FOREIGN LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY, AND BLANKENSHIP CONTRACTING, INC., A FOREIGN CORPORATION, APPELLEES

Fla. 1st DCA | 2007-10-30
No. 1D07-1571
VAN NORTWICK and PADOVANO, JJ., concur.
967 So. 2d 1006 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (2007) Positive Treatment
Cited by 2 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

McWane, Inc. appeals a trial court order refusing to enforce mandatory forum selection clauses in contracts requiring disputes to be resolved outside Florida. The court affirmed, holding that enforcement would be unreasonable and unjust because it would fragment related claims involving multiple defendants and a single line of pipe, creating risk of conflicting judgments.


Holding

The court affirmed the trial court's refusal to enforce the forum selection provisions, holding that where legally and factually interrelated claims and cross-claims involve multiple defendants from multiple states and allege damage to a single line of pipe, enforcement of the forum selection provisions would be unjust and unreasonable because it would lead to fragmentation, splitting of causes of action, and potential for conflicting results.


Headnotes

[1] A mandatory forum selection provision in a contract may be deemed unreasonable and unjust if its enforcement would lead to multiple lawsuits, splitting of causes of actio…

[2] To avoid enforcement of a mandatory forum selection provision as unreasonable or unjust, a party must demonstrate that trial in the agreed-upon forum will be so gravely d…

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Key Quotes

“A party seeking to avoid the enforcement of a mandatory contractual forum selection provision as unreasonable or unjust must demonstrate that trial in the agreed-upon forum "will be so gravely difficult and inconvenient that he will for all practical purposes be deprived of his day in court."”

States the applicable legal standard for challenging forum selection clauses

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Facts & Procedural History

A structural failure of a pipe line carrying potable water to St. George Island resulted in breach of contract and warranty claims against multiple de…

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Opinion of the Court
ALLEN, J.

ALLEN, J.

The appellant challenges a nonfinal order by which the trial court declined to enforce a mandatory forum selection provision in a contract. Because the circumstances presented in this case warrant the trial court’s ruling, we affirm.

This appeal arises from a civil suit for breach of contract and warranty against multiple defendants from multiple states for damages resulting from the structural failure of a line of pipe carrying potable water to St. George Island. Each named defendant was responsible for a particular stage in the manufacture, preparation, transportation, and installation of the pipe. Affirmative defenses were raised and cross-claims were presented. Two defendants, including the appellant, moved for a dismissal of the' suit (the appellant also sought dismissal of a cross-claim), seeking enforcement of forum selection provisions in their contracts with the plaintiff wherein it was agreed that legal disputes such as this would be resolved in states other than Florida. The plaintiff argued, and the trial court agreed, that enforcement of the provisions would be unreasonable and unjust.

A party seeking to avoid the enforcement of a mandatory contractual forum selection provision as unreasonable or unjust must demonstrate that trial in the agreed-upon forum “will be so gravely difficult and inconvenient that he will for all practical purposes be deprived of his day in court.” Manrique v. Fubbri, 493 So. 2d 437, 440 n. 4 (Fla.1986) (quoting M/S Bremen v. Zapata Off-Shore Co., 407 U.S. 1, 18, 92 S.Ct. 1907, 32 L.Ed.2d 513 (1972)).

Although mere inconvenience or additional expense will not suffice, a venue provision may be avoided when it appears that enforcement of the provision will lead to multiple lawsuits, a splitting of the causes of action, and the potential for conflicting results in different courts. Dore v. Roten, 911 So. 2d 218 (Fla. 2d DCA 2005); see also Carlson-Southeast Corp. v. Geolithic, Inc., 530 So. 2d 1069 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988).

The circumstances involved in this case, legally and factually interrelated claims and cross-claims alleging structural damage to a single line of pipe by multiple defendants from multiple states, demonstrate that enforcement of the forum selection provisions would be unjust and unreasonable. We accordingly affirm the order under review.

VAN NORTWICK and PADOVANO, JJ., concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Am. Safety Cas. Ins. Co. v. Mijares Holding Co., LLC, 76 So. 3d 1089 (Fla. 3d DCA 2011)
    …maining in Miami and that this constitutes a compelling reason to keep the litigation in Miami. While we agree that inconsistent and simultaneous interstate litigation is an applicable compelling reason, see McWane, Inc. v. Water Mgmt. Servs., Inc., 967 So. 2d 1006 (Fla. 1st DCA 2007), we do not agree it applies in this case to override Florida law’s presumption in favor of enforcing forum selection clauses. Mijares’ arguments regarding the possible impractical or inconsistent litigation it may have to pursue…

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