Professional Ins. Corp. v. Sutherland

In Professional Ins. Corp. v. Sutherland, 700 So. 2d 347, 351 (Ala. 1997) the Court adopted the majority rule, by which an "outbound" forum-selection clause is upheld unless the party challenging the clause clearly establishes that it would be unfair or unreasonable under the circumstances to hold the parties to their bargain. 700 So. 2d at 351. The challenging party can meet its burden by clearly establishing "(1) that enforcement of the forum selection clause would be unfair on the basis that the contract was affected by fraud, undue influence, or overweening bargaining power or (2) that enforcement would be unreasonable on the basis that the chosen ... forum would be seriously inconvenient for the trial of the action." Id. at 352.