A true conflict exists between federal and local courts on the validity of forum selection clauses in Law 75 contracts

A mandatory, as opposed to a permissive, forum selection selection clause requires litigation in the chosen forum. Generally, as a matter of federal law, mandatory forum selection agreements are prima facie valid and enforceable. In Bremen v. Zapata, 407 U.S. 1 (1972), the U.S. Supreme Court held, however, that whether a forum selection clause offends a forum state's public policy can be one of a number of grounds for invalidation. Since 1972, most courts have not taken Bremen at its word and have analyzed the facts and circumstances of each case to determine enforcement.

Law 75 has a provision that a forum selection clause mandating litigation outside of Puerto Rico is null and void as against public policy. Some other dealer-friendly states like California have similar provisions. This is the same section of Law 75 that also invalidates arbitration outside of Puerto Rico in favor of the home field advantage. One would think that the Federal Arbitration Act preempts Law 75 in that respect and that enforcement of the litigation forum selection prohibition is questionable, at best. Why should arbitration receive preferential treatment from a federal policy standpoint if there are also strong federal interests at stake that weigh in favor of validating forum selection clauses? The strong public policy favoring arbitration is to enforce private agreements on their terms and that same policy of respecting liberty of contract is present when enforcing forum selection clauses.

Most federal court decisions, of which Caribbean Restaurants v Burger King Corporation, 2014 WL 2465133 (D.P.R. June 3, 2014)(Perez-Gimenez, J) is the most recent, have enforced forum selection clauses in dealer's contracts governed by Law 75. Federal courts have reasoned that important federal interests of respecting liberty of contract and freedom of commerce outweigh parochial provisions in legislation like Law 75 requiring litigation of dealer disputes in home courts. Further, federal courts have predicted that the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico would, after a series of decisions adopting federal law on the enforcement of forum selection clauses, disregard the prohibition in Law 75 and give more weight to federal policy interests.

Wait. Is it so clear? An intermediate appellate court decision in Caribe RX v. Grifols Inc., 2014 WL 2527399 (TA April 14, 2014) bucks the trend and it does, in the most simplistic and superficial of holdings: Article 3-B of Law 75 means that the clause in the distributor agreement providing for litigation in North Carolina, U.S.A. is illegal and that's dispositive. Forget that federal courts over the past decade have held to the contrary, or that Puerto Rico's highest court has been predicted to validate such a clause in a Law 75 contract. No mention was made of those federal decisions on point.

Never mind that the distribution agreement in Grifols was valid, there was negotiation between sophisticated commercial parties, consent and valid consideration. No fraud or duress etc. Never mind either that North Carolina, the chosen forum in Grifols, predictably would have been led to apply Law 75's just cause requirement from its adoption and application of the Restatement of Conflict of Laws. The forum selected in Grifols was not a rogue foreign state. The Puerto Rico dealer did not have to litigate with Grifols in Iraq or Syria. This would not be Mr.Tom Hanks poised as Captain Phillips had he been contractually required to litigate in Somalia a case against his carrier-employer for his damages resulting from his abduction and torture on Somalia's coastline. It is after all North Carolina, U.S.A.

Is Grifols a one of its kind decision? Is the message that contracts in Puerto Rico should not be respected? If so, how can that result be reconciled with the strong, if not imperative, public policy in Puerto Rico's legislation enacted to attract foreign capital investment? How is the Grifols decision conducive for Puerto Rico to establish the "business friendly" environment that the Federal Reserve Bank of New York recommended in its report as one of the steps for Puerto Rico to climb out of our economic malaise? This Grifols ruling is under the radar screen but the repercussions for business interests in Puerto Rico are huge.

In the meantime, and subject matter jurisdiction permitting, who would blame the principal for choosing to litigate PR dealer disputes in the federal forum? Forum shopping takes a new twist in PR dealer contract cases involving choice of forum provisions.

Stay tuned. Maybe the PR legislature will listen and amend Law 75 or the PR Supreme Court will pay attention to take action when the proper case comes before it.

The author represented Grifols in the case.

It can matter who files first: the race to the courthouse has allure in Law 75 cases

Should I file first or wait to get sued and defend or respond? Aside from the legal merits of claims or defenses, there are procedural advantages to the first-filed rule and that rule is that federal courts in different jurisdictions may, but not always, defer to the first-filed case in parallel cases as a matter of courtesy and convenience. Abstention doctrines come into play when there are parallel state and federal cases. There is no certainty about the application of the rule as one court may decide to keep a case despite the first-filed rule and another may not be persuaded to transfer it on grounds of alleged inconvenience. This increases the risk of inter-jurisdictional conflicts.

One would think that filing first would be a wise strategy at least when you know that your client will get sued or where you want the benefit of a presumptive more convenient or favorable forum. You may still end up defending in two jurisdictions if both courts refuse to transfer their respective actions, but at least you have one forum of your choice.

This is what the supplier must have thought in Ace Hardware Int’l Holdings Inc. v. Masso Expo Corp., 2012 WL 182236 (N.D. Ill. Jan. 23, 2012) when it sued the Puerto Rico distributor for declaratory judgment in federal court in Illinois. Instead of counterclaiming in the Illinois action, Masso, the distributor, responded with a Law 75 action against Ace in federal court in Puerto Rico. 2011 WL 5525381 (D.P.R. Nov. 14, 2011). The case in Illinois was filed first and months before the Puerto Rico action. Still, the federal court in Puerto Rico (Gelpí, J. adopting Vélez Rivé’s recommendations) denied a motion to transfer the parallel action to Illinois.

For its part, the federal court in Illinois was not moved to reconsider its ruling refusing to transfer the parallel action to Puerto Rico. First, it held that, the fact that Puerto Rico law applies is not sufficient to transfer and there is no choice of law provision mandating litigation in Puerto Rico or for that matter, in Illinois. Second, the court disagreed with the Puerto Rico Magistrate Judge’s dictum that Law 75 prohibited litigation of Law 75 claims outside of Puerto Rico courts and distinguished the permissive forum selection clause at issue in the agreements that would not offend Section 278(b) as opposed to mandatory forum-selection clauses that arguably would, but cites to numerous authorities enforcing mandatory forum-selection clauses in Law 75 disputes. While the Illinois court was careful not to cast blame on the Puerto Rico court for refusing to transfer, reading between the lines and citing a case transferring a Puerto Rico case to Texas based on the first-filed rule and Section 1404(a), the court found a way to disagree and keep the action in Illinois. Finally, the court also disagreed with the distributor’s pleas of inconvenience retorting that it was of its own making for having filed the Puerto Rico action instead of filing counterclaims in the Illinois action.

Federal Court enforces mandatory forum-selection clause in a distribution agreement despite Law 75’s provision that litigation outside of Puerto Rico violates public policy.

While Law 75 is a remedial law of public order, courts harmonize the interest to protect Puerto Rico distributors from unjustified terminations after they create a favorable market for the principal’s products and the competing interest behind the enforcement of forum-selection clauses that “increase convenience and predictability for business actors.” Marpor Corporation v. DFO, LLC and Denny’s Inc., No. 10-1312 (D.P.R. Dec. 2, 2010)(Perez-Gimenez, J.). In Marpor, Plaintiff, a Denny’s franchisee, brought an action to declare that the franchisor had terminated an exclusivity provision without just cause. The District Court noted that both federal and Puerto Rico courts generally enforce forum selection clauses in the absence of fraud, bad faith, or overreaching. The court found that the South Carolina forum selection clause in the agreement was mandatory, not permissive. Further, the court held that the legitimate interest of providing convenience and uniformity to business actors as to the locale for resolving their disputes outweighs Law 75’s express provision that dealer disputes must be litigated (and arbitrated) solely in Puerto Rico. Accordingly, the court granted Defendant’s Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss.

A complaint with a Law 21 claim was properly removed to federal court after satisfying the minimum jurisdictional amount for diversity jurisdiction.

I have witnessed a trend by franchisees, distributors, and sales representatives of doing everything in their means to avoid litigation in federal court of their claims brought under Laws 75 and 21. At first glance, the strategy seems perplexing particularly when there is a right to trial by jury in federal court (but not in local Puerto Rico courts); and generally, federal courts are quicker to judgment. Deep down, however, the issue of forum selection is more complex and the decision of where to sue is influenced by many factors. For example, local courts are more inclined to deny motions for summary judgment in part due to the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico’s procedurally stringent standard for summary disposition. By the same token, federal courts have developed over the years a body of jurisprudence in distribution cases that provide support for the granting of motions in limine to exclude or limit expert testimony and allow more readily summary judgment for principals in certain cases. Whether it is perception or reality the fact remains that Plaintiffs implement a number of tactics to avoid the federal court in these cases including the “fraudulent” joinder of a diversity-defeating co-defendant, a Puerto Rico distributor, or the subsequent filing of a similar action in local court when a “first-filed” case was pending in federal court against the same parties. And, suing for less than the jurisdictional amount may get a party out of federal court, too (or not!).

The case under discussion, Ramirez de Arellano v. Budenheim USA, Inc. 2010 WL 3810078 (D.P.R. Sept. 22, 2010)(Perez-Gimenez,J), presents the anomaly where the Plaintiff alleged that his damages were lower and the Defendant alleged that his actual economic damages were higher. There, Plaintiff, a sales representative in a case brought under Law 21, alleged on the face of the complaint less than the jurisdictional minimum of $75,000 when Law 21 would have allowed a claim for recovery of a greater amount of damages. Defendant removed the case to federal court. Plaintiff moved to remand alleging there was no subject matter jurisdiction. Defendant opposed the remand contending that, at relevant times, Plaintiff had a sales volume of $1.6 million and that Law 21 permitted recovery of 5% the total sales volume plus loss of goodwill and other damages.

Faced with conflicting allegations, the court determined that Plaintiff, who represented Defendant over a 20 year-relationship (presumably Law 21 would not have applied unless an extinctive novation occurred-an issue not addressed by the parties or the court at this time), would be entitled to potential recovery of at least $80,000. Since it is not a legal certainty that the claim involves less than the jurisdictional minimum, the court denied Plaintiff’s motion to remand and set a briefing schedule for Defendant’s motion to dismiss.

Another victory for principals: are forum selection clauses enforceable in Law 75 cases?

Not automatically, but almost always. Puerto Rico Surgical Technologies, Inc. v. Applied Medical Distribution Corp., 2010 WL 4237927 (D.P.R. Oct. 26, 2010)(Pieras, J.) is no exception. There, the parties executed a distribution agreement with a California choice of law clause and a mandatory forum selection clause vesting California federal and state courts with exclusive jurisdiction. Plaintiff filed an action for damages under Law 75 in local court, which was then removed to federal court. Finding no difficulty in enforcing the forum selection clause under federal or Puerto Rico law, the court granted a motion to dismiss the complaint without prejudice. Distinguishing the First Circuit’s Combraco decision as dicta (reported in my previous blog) suggesting that Law 75’s public policy disfavoring litigation outside Puerto Rico may outweigh the federal interest in enforcing a forum selection clause, the district court held that enforcement of the forum selection clause in this case did not contravene an important public policy of Puerto Rico, was negotiated freely, and was not otherwise unreasonable. At least where the parties and the facts underlying the claims have a sufficiently close nexus to California, the court will not invalidate a forum selection clause simply because of Plaintiff’s inconvenience in litigating outside Puerto Rico.