(a) If any contract, arbitration agreement or other agreement provides for the choice of venue or forum outside any state or territory of the United States and if the enforcement or interpretation of the contract, arbitration agreement or other agreement applying that choice of venue or forum provision either resulted or would result in a violation of any right of a natural person in this state guaranteed by the Tennessee Constitution or the United States Constitution, then it is the public policy of this state that, in interpreting or construing the contract or arbitration agreement or other agreement, the primary factor to be considered is whether it can be interpreted or construed to preserve the constitutional rights of the natural person in this state against whom enforcement is sought.
Terms Used In Tennessee Code 20-15-104
Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
United States: includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
(b) If a natural person of this state, subject to personal jurisdiction in this state, seeks to maintain litigation, arbitration, agency or similarly binding proceedings in this state and if the courts of this state find that granting a claim of forum non conveniens or a related claim violates or would likely violate the constitutional rights of the non-claimant in the foreign forum with respect to the matter in dispute, then it is the public policy of this state that the claim shall be denied.
