imageA tough clause to beat

A little over two years ago, the Supreme Court held that judges must enforce forum-choice clauses in the absence of “extraordinary” reasons “unrelated to the convenience of the parties”. Atlantic Marine Construction Co., Inc. v. United States District  Court for the Western District of Texas, 134 S. Ct. 568, 580 (2013).

On the day that  the 9-0 Court handed down Atlantic MarineI wrote that it “will bring joy to firms that put [the] clauses in their contracts in hopes of making lawsuits too costly to pursue.”

Has the case borne out my forecast of joy?

Yes. Yes indeed.
Continue Reading The Value of Forum-Choice Clauses

A Chance to Shine

Ninth Circuit San FranciscoHow often do fourth-year associates get an opportunity to argue before a U.S. court of appeals?

That sort of thing occurs a lot at the place where Blawgletter has worked since 1985.

It happened most recently to Amanda Bonn, an associate in Susman Godfrey's Los Angeles office. Let us tell you the story.