'Forum Selection’ or ‘Forum Shopping’: Framing the Divide

Litigation partners Gary P. Naftalis and Michael S. Oberman’s article “‘Forum Selection’ or ‘Forum Shopping’: Framing the Divide” appeared in the February 28, 2011 issue of the New York Law Journal. They write: “‘Forum selection’ should be an essential element in the strategy decisions made by the litigator responsible for commencing or responding to a commercial action. Yet, in assessing the available alternative forums and in weighing the likelihood of securing the preferred one, a litigator will likely encounter the strain in the case law that speaks of ‘forum shopping’ in a pejorative manner." The article attempts to frame the divide between venue strategies that courts accept (which can be called "forum selection") and those that they decry (and appropriately label as "forum shopping").