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27 Int'l Bus. Law. 307 (1999)
Forum Shopping: A New Lease of Life?

handle is hein.journals/ibl27 and id is 309 raw text is: / .L . 1.®, 24., _JI/I#.1... g // Richard Williams and William Marsh Ince & Co, London n most countries, the power of the courts of that country to rule in relation to a particular matter is invoked by the simple expedient of serving an originating process - a writ - on the defendant if or when he or it is physically within the area in which the courts of that country exercise jurisdiction. Whilst that area will generally be limited to the geographical area of the country in question, the person/entity/thing which may be served can, in some countries, extend well beyond the actual person/entity/thing which is ultimately being sued. Provided only that he or it is in the correct geographical area, it is often sufficient if associated persons/entities/things are served, even though they may have nothing whatsoever to do with the matter in respect of which the legal proceedings are commenced. Alternatively, the existence of some associated entity within the jurisdiction of the court in question may provide an excuse for serving the defendant in a place entirely outside that jurisdiction. In other words, when a party wishes to bring a civil action, he has a fair amount of flexibility as to where he can bring it: in many cases, the only limiting factor is the ingenuity of the party and his legal advisers in finding a way to comply with the service rules of the country in which it is wished to bring the action. International Business Lawyer July/August 1999 Naturally a party will try to sue in the country whose laws give him the 'best deal' - usually more money or an easier way of getting it. A plaintiff might choose a country where damages are awarded on a higher scale, or where interest rates are more favourable, or the procedure on discovery more or less complete (depending upon what suits the party better!) or where there is a more generous limitation period.' In addition, a party will often try to harness any 'home court advantage' there might be - especially where he is a national or is associated with the country concerned but the person lie is suing is not. Thus there are examples in the law reports of many countries of people with personal injury claims trying everything in their power to have their claim heard in the USA; of European parties commencing proceedings for declarations of non liability in the hope that the courts of the country in which those proceedings are commenced will also have jurisdiction over everything else arising out of the incident;' and of claimants connencing proceedings in their own country even in the face of exclusive foreign jurisdiction clauses in the contracts under which the claim arises. This is forum shopping. Once the proceedings have been begun, and except in the most blatant of cases where a court of

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