Reference no: EM131452815

Case: Determining Country of Jurisdiction for International Business Disputes

A California-based company is expanding very well and has just made its first large export sale. All of its sales and procurement contracts up to now have contained a clause providing that if any disputes arise under the contract, they will be settled under California law and that any litigation will be in California courts.

The new foreign customer, who is Italian, objects to these all-California solutions. She says she is buying and paying for a large volume of the products, so before finalizing the sales contract she says that the California Company should compromise and allow Italian law and courts to govern and handle any disputes.

Questions:

1. You are the CEO of the California Company, and you very much want this large export order. You are pleased with the service your law firm has given, but you know it has no international experience. What are the various forms of dispute resolution available to your California Company? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each for your company?

2. In deciding whether to only use California law for settling litigation or to allow the foreign customer's home nation of Italy as the venue for litigation, would your analysis be any different if the customer was from China? From Russia? From the United Kingdom? Why or why not?