Atlantic Marine Construction Co. Inc. v. U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, No. 12-929; U.S. Supreme Court; opinion by Alito, J.; decided December 3, 2013. On certiorari to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Petitioner Atlantic Marine Construction Co., a Virginia corporation, entered into a subcontract with respondent J-Crew Management Inc., a Texas corporation, for work on a construction project. The subcontract included a forum-selection clause, which stated that all disputes between the parties would be litigated in Virginia. When a dispute arose, however, J-Crew filed suit in the Western District of Texas. Atlantic Marine moved to dismiss, arguing that the forum-selection clause rendered venue “wrong” under 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a) and “improper” under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(3). In the alternative, Atlantic Marine moved to transfer the case to the Eastern District of Virginia under 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a).
