Question

In its user service agreement, Facebook includes a forum selection clause that requires users with legal disputes to file any lawsuits against Facebook in courts physically located near its northern California corporate headquarters. Review the discussion of this issue in your textbook (Legal Strategy 101, pp. 100-101); then, analyze the following questions:

1. Is forum shopping ethical? What are you using as your ethical standard?
2. Should courts enforce forum selection clauses in business-to-consumer contracts like the Facebook user agreement? Why or why not?
3. Suppose Facebook did not have a forum selection clause in its user agreement. Would Facebook be subject to the jurisdiction of every state court in the United States, since it has millions of users in every U.S. state?

This assignment requires that you analyze both a legal concept (forum shopping) and its application in a business contract (forum selection clause). Read the course material and the assignment carefully, and do not confuse or conflate the two.

Refer to the Assignment Instructions folder of the course for general directions and grading rubrics for Discussion Boards, including requirements for word length, scholarly sources, and integration of a Biblical worldview.

Use the words "Ethical" or "Not Ethical" in the subject line of your thread to identify your conclusion. Do not use attachments, as these are cumbersome and inhibit the discussion process.

Answer 1

1.

I think that forum shopping is ethical. When deciding if forum shopping is ethical, I had to think about if I was a business owner and how I would like to have civil litigations handled. If I was a business owner I would want people to come to me when filling civil litigations. The only time forum shopping would be unethical would be when businesses are using forum shopping to go to an easy county court system.

In forum shopping, like the Facebook user agreement, plaintiffs are not able to pick their courts or locations of their courts. I think that the courts should enforce forum selection clauses in business-to-consumer contracts because people should understand what they are agreeing to and signing. This would also cut down on the number of civil litigations and will allow these contracts to be upheld in the court and not let either business or consumers to get away with any breach of contracts.

The ethical standard for forum shopping, there should be fairness, truthfulness, integrity. No one wants to be lied to or ripped off not to be taken advantage of. Christian ethics should be applied to economics and business as a tradition to bring about principles, criteria, and guidelines for action.

2.

I think that courts should enforce forum selection clauses. While this may not be appropriate in every instance, each case should be assessed before deciding on where the court is held and if there will be any location advantages or biases.

Businesses can now select where the court must be held, and define that in their terms and conditions ahead of time, which is a disadvantage to many. This may allow the business to get to know the local judges and act according to win the cases. This is also a disadvantage to the plaintiff because the business may be local, and the judge may rule in their favor.

3.

Considering there are millions of users in each state nationwide, Facebook would indeed be subject to the jurisdiction of every state court in the United States. This would then allow the plaintiff to forum shop since they are not held in any set court.