Stewart Organization, Inc. v. Ricoh Corp.

JOHNSON, Circuit Judge:

This case represents another episode in a dialectic that has engaged the federal courts for fourteen decades — the precise scope of the laws governing federal court decisions in diversity actions. Specifically, this case requires us to decide whether a freely negotiated contractual choice of forum clause is enforceable in diversity actions in federal court when the forum state considers such clauses to be violative of public policy. For the reasons explained herein, we find that such clauses present procedural questions to be resolved by federal law independent of forum…