A recent Delaware Court of Chancery opinion interpreted related agreements that included forum selection clauses that were conflicting.  In Mack v. Rev Worldwide, Inc., C.A. No. 2019-0123-MTZ (Del. Ch. Dec. 30, 2020), the court addressed forum selection provisions in two related agreements which the court treated as one because they were incorporated by reference.

The court was asked to decide whether Delaware was the proper forum when one of the forum selection clauses required courts in Texas to address certain issues–and the other forum selection provision provided for a California court to hear disputes.

Key Takeaways:
● The court recited the well-established Delaware law about the enforceability of forum selection clauses generally.  Slip op. at 15 to 17.
● The court also addressed Rule 12(b)(3) motions challenging venue and whether arguments required to be made in an initial Rule 12 motion are waived if all the grounds for such motions are not explained, as well as the impact of a second motion under Rule 12 in connection with an amended complaint.  The court explained why those arguments would generally not be waived, even if all the grounds for such a motion were not recited in the original motion.
● The court also observed that in some instances non-signatories to a forum selection clause may also be bound by it.
● The court reasoned that unlike the typical situation where conflicting forum selection clauses choose Delaware and another forum, in this instance competing forum selection clauses both required litigation in states outside of Delaware. Therefore, the court determined that because neither of the parties chose Delaware, a court in one of the other two forums selected would need to decide which of them would address the merits of the case.