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ARTICLE · 06 FEBRUARY 2013

The Construction Trial Will Be Held Far, Far Away!

Duane Morris LLP
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Suppose you’re a New Jersey subcontractor on a New Jersey project, where the project owner is based in New York and the prime contractor in Wisconsin.

United StatesReal Estate and Construction
Duane Morris
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Suppose you're a New Jersey subcontractor on a New Jersey project, where the project owner is based in New York and the prime contractor in Wisconsin. Suppose in addition that you sign a subcontract calling for disputes to be resolved by arbitration in Wisconsin. And suppose further that once a dispute arises you consider Wisconsin to be an inconvenient place for the arbitration. Will a New Jersey court agree? Don't count on it.

A federal court, in the case of Hautz Construction, LLC v. H&M Department Store, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12215 (N.J., Jan. 28, 2013), has just confirmed that trial venue clauses will normally be upheld. The current decision is located here (subscription required). A prior decision in the same case and on the same issue can be read here.

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