The Comedy Store v. Moss Adams LP (Cal. Ct. App. - Nov. 14, 2024)

You've got to pull quite a few doctrinal moves to make this opinion work. But Justice Mori pulls them all. The Court of Appeal holds that since the defendant's forum selection clause (which required all lawsuits to be filed in Washington state) also contained a waiver of the right to a jury trial, which is enforceable in Washington but not in California, it's not entitled to a dismissal of the California state court lawsuit on forum non conveniens grounds.

Even if the defendant stipulates to waive the impermissible (in California) jury trial waiver provision.

I thought that the equity of this result was best expressed in one particular paragraph near the very end of Justice Mori's opinion, in which she says -- quite correctly, in my view:

"Predispute jury waivers have been unenforceable in California for nearly 20 years. (See Grafton, supra, 36 Cal.4th at p. 956.) According to a declaration from Moss Adams’s general counsel, engagement agreements similar to the one signed by the Store have been in use throughout this time. If we were to hold that Moss Adams’s unilateral stipulation satisfied its burden of proof under Verdugo, it would have little incentive to take the jury waiver out of the agreements it provides to California clients. It can simply wait and see if a client who signs the agreement sues it in California and argues the forum selection clause impinges on the client’s right to a jury trial. Then Moss Adams can provide a non-enforcement stipulation. However, if the client does not recognize its right to a jury is unwaivable, it may end up abiding by the terms of the agreement and litigating the case in Washington without a jury."

Yep. Spot on right.