AC MILLER CON. PROD. CORP. v. Quikset Vault Sales Corp., Civ. A. No. 69-2964.
Decision Date | 12 March 1970 |
Docket Number | Civ. A. No. 69-2964. |
Citation | 309 F. Supp. 1094 |
Parties | A. C. MILLER CONCRETE PRODUCTS CORP., Plaintiff, v. QUIKSET VAULT SALES CORP., Defendant. |
Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Pennsylvania |
Edward C. Gonda, Seidel, Gonda & Goldhammer, Philadelphia, Pa., for plaintiff.
Robert C. Grasberger, Strong, Barnett & Grasberger, Philadelphia, Pa., for defendant.
This is a motion of the defendant to transfer or in the alternative dismiss an action brought by the plaintiff to void a contract between the parties on the ground that certain of its provisions are offensive to Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act. The primary contention of the defendant in this regard is that the parties provided that legal actions contesting the contract would be brought in California and that therefore the case in our Court should be dismissed or transferred. Section 24 of the contract between the parties provides that:
"It is mutually agreed that regardless of where executed, this agreement shall be conclusively deemed to have been executed under and pursuant to the laws of the State of California and that the laws of said state, and only said state, shall be applied hereunder, and that any causes of action between the parties hereto shall only have jurisdiction and venue in the Courts of the State of California in and for the County of Orange."
In resisting the defendant's motions, the plaintiff contends that the above provision refers only to actions in state courts under state laws, and does not encompass actions under federal laws, so that it is not a bar to the instant action in this jurisdiction. We disagree. The provision explicitly provides that in "any cause of action" jurisdiction and venue will be in Orange County, California. We think that, in the context of this contracting situation, although the parties may not have specifically adverted to the possibility of a federal action, it was their general agreement that all disputes1 and causes of action be resolved in Los Angeles, California. If any cause of action could not by law be brought in state courts, but had to be brought in federal courts, the logical inference is that the proper federal district would be the one encompassing Orange County, California, not some other one. The defendant, who has numerous similar franchising agreements with parties in different areas of the country, obviously bargained for this term so he would not have to defend his agreements at far-flung locations, and it is not our province to upset agreements of the parties in these circumstances.2
See also Wm. H. Muller & Co., Inc. v. Swedish American Line, Ltd. & T.S.S. Co., Ltd., 224 F.2d 806 (2nd Cir. 1955). Accordingly, since we consider the instant agreement reasonable under the circumstances, we could dismiss the action Ibid. However, in the interest of saving the plaintiff the effort and expense of bringing a new action in California, we will, pursuant...
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