得克萨斯州的基林和弗吉尼亚州海滩，J-Crew Management Inc.和Atlantic Marine Construction Inc.之间没有直接航班和1,505英里。J-crew说，大西洋海洋欠了160,000美元的工作，其工作是在2011年在基林附近的胡德堡（Fort Hood）的740万美元儿童开发中心担任分包商的工作。J-crew在美国陆军基地附近的联邦法院起诉，而不是在弗吉尼亚州起诉。奥斯丁的联邦上诉法官维持了J-crew在其本州起诉的权利。

Forum or venue selection matters a great deal in murder and other trials that can inflame public passions. It also matters in construction, because companies prefer to plead their case where they employ staff or donate to local civic causes. "You do the dance where you want to be," says Gina Vitiello, a shareholder with attorney Chamberlain, Hrdlicka. The Atlanta-based firm has no role in the case.

To gain the advantage—and discourage subs from suing at all—prime contractors frequently insert clauses in contracts requiring disputes to be tried in the prime's home state. Subcontractors often fight it by suing on their home turf anyway. The case of Atlantic Marine Construction Co. Inc. v. U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, now in the U.S. Supreme Court, could change those strategies.

口头辩论定于10月9日在大西洋海军陆战队推翻德克萨斯联邦上诉法院的裁决允许J-Crew在德克萨斯联邦法院提出索赔的企图。美国商会代表大西洋海军陆战队提交了法庭摘要。美国分包商协会已向J-Crew提交了一个。

Atlantic Marine, whose managers could not be reached for comment, dwarfs J-Crew in size: It has 40 employees, compared to J-Crew's four or five. The prime contractor argued in its key brief to the Supreme Court that contract clauses between private parties should be respected and that the burden should be on any party that wants to change the specified venue. Allowing one party to easily change forum will encourage "forum-shopping," creates incentives to breach contracts and "sets up a race to the courthouse," according to Atlantic Marine's petition.

换句话说，得克萨斯州的联邦法官超越了他们的酌处权，允许J-Crew在德克萨斯州提起诉讼。

但是，《联邦商业法》为法官提供了余地的法官，并要求他们评估距离和便利性以及合同中的内容等因素。“此案使法院法官自由裁量权以确定审理纠纷的地方赋予国会权力的自由。”

Subcontractors have characterized forum-selection clauses as predatory. The subs have no choice but to accept them, they claim, given the power of the prime contractor and the small specialty contractor's urgent need for work in its home territory.

If Atlantic Marine wins, it will lock enforceable forum clauses into sub contracts. Not even the statutes on the books in 22 states limiting or voiding such clauses will prevent federal judges from upholding contracts.

俄亥俄州哥伦布的一名律师埃里克·B·特拉弗斯（Eric B.。特拉弗斯说，一个失败的决定将浪费“使法律通过的所有工作”。