Contracts, Forum Selection, Nonwaivable Rights, Jury Trial Waiver, 1, 11
Following Handoush v. Lease Finance Group, LLC (2019) 41 Cal.App.5th 729, this decision holds that the trial court erred in enforcing a forum selection clause selecting a Washington state court forum because the contract also contained a jury trial waiver clause. The moving defendant bore the burden of showing that Washington courts would not be less favorable to the non-waivable right to a jury trial than California courts would be. Defendant didn’t prove that a Washington court would follow California law invalidating pre-dispute jury trial waivers. Defendant’s offer of a promise not to try to enforce the clause if the case was brought in Washington was insufficient because (1) both parties’ consent was needed to alter their agreement, (2) there was no showing that a Washington court would honor and enforce defendant’s unilateral promise, and (3) allowing a defendant to escape the consequence of a pre-dispute jury trial waiver that way would just encourage parties to put such waivers in their agreements.