City of Albany v. CH2M Hill, Inc.

The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's order granting the city's motion to remand this breach of contract case to state court based on a venue selection clause in its contract with defendant, an engineering firm incorporated in Florida. The panel held that the parties' venue selection agreement unambiguously precludes litigation in federal court. In this case, the contracts contained identical venue selection clauses that provide: "Venue for litigation shall be in Linn County, Oregon." The panel held that the venue selection clause precludes litigation in federal court because no federal courthouse is located in Linn County. Therefore, the only way to effectuate the parties' agreement is to limit venue for litigation to the state court in Linn County. View "City of Albany v. CH2M Hill, Inc." on Justia Law