Filed: May 22, 2015
Latest Update: Mar. 02, 2020
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 14-1558 U.S. SMOKE & FIRE CURTAIN, LLC, Plaintiff - Appellant, v. BRADLEY LOMAS ELECTROLOK, LTD, Defendant - Appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Alexandria. Anthony John Trenga, District Judge. (1:14-cv-00268-AJT-JFA) Submitted: February 27, 2015 Decided: May 22, 2015 Before KING, WYNN, and DIAZ, Circuit Judges. Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion. Terrance G.
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 14-1558 U.S. SMOKE & FIRE CURTAIN, LLC, Plaintiff - Appellant, v. BRADLEY LOMAS ELECTROLOK, LTD, Defendant - Appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Alexandria. Anthony John Trenga, District Judge. (1:14-cv-00268-AJT-JFA) Submitted: February 27, 2015 Decided: May 22, 2015 Before KING, WYNN, and DIAZ, Circuit Judges. Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion. Terrance G. R..
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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 14-1558
U.S. SMOKE & FIRE CURTAIN, LLC,
Plaintiff - Appellant,
v.
BRADLEY LOMAS ELECTROLOK, LTD,
Defendant - Appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of Virginia, at Alexandria. Anthony John Trenga,
District Judge. (1:14-cv-00268-AJT-JFA)
Submitted: February 27, 2015 Decided: May 22, 2015
Before KING, WYNN, and DIAZ, Circuit Judges.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Terrance G. Reed, LANKFORD & REED, PLLC, Alexandria, Virginia,
for Appellant. Tara M. Lee, Joseph C. Davis, DLA PIPER LLP
(US), Reston, Virginia; Sara Z. Moghadam, Paul D. Schmitt, DLA
PIPER LLP (US), Washington, D.C., for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
In this appeal, U.S. Smoke & Fire Curtain, LLC (“Curtain”),
challenges the district court’s dismissal without prejudice of
its civil complaint. Curtain asserts the district court erred
in concluding that the forum-selection clause in the
distribution agreement into which Curtain entered with Bradley
Lomas Electrolok, Limited (“BLE”), applies to the claims raised
in Curtain’s complaint. 1 We affirm. 2
Curtain raises three arguments on appeal. First, Curtain
claims that, by removing the case to federal district court, BLE
waived its right to seek enforcement of the forum-selection
clause. We disagree. See, e.g., PT United Can Co. v. Crown
Cork & Seal Co.,
138 F.3d 65, 72 (2d Cir. 1998); see also Davis
v. St. Paul-Mercury Indem. Co.,
294 F.2d 641, 647 n.7 (4th Cir.
1961) (noting that motion for change of venue following removal
from state court provides defendants with useful tool to
1
Because the district court dismissed the action, we
conclude that its order is final and appealable. See Chao v.
Rivendell Woods, Inc.,
415 F.3d 342, 345 (4th Cir. 2005).
2
Although the parties disagree on the appropriate standard
of review following the Supreme Court’s decision in Atlantic
Marine Constr. Co. v. United States Dist. Court,
134 S. Ct. 568
(2013), we decline to decide the issue because, under either
standard, the district court’s order must be affirmed.
2
alleviate extreme hardship).
Second, Curtain claims that the termination of its
distribution agreement with BLE bars BLE’s enforcement of the
forum-selection clause. Although several of the district court
decisions to which Curtain points may be read to support this
position, we conclude that the greater weight of authority is
against Curtain. Generally, dispute-resolution provisions, such
as forum-selection clauses, are enforceable beyond the
expiration of the contract if they are otherwise applicable to
the disputed issue and the parties have not agreed otherwise.
See Litton Fin. Printing Div. v. NLRB,
501 U.S. 190, 204 (1991);
Cumberland Typographical Union No. 244 v. Times & Alleganian
Co.,
943 F.2d 401, 405 (4th Cir. 1991). Under these principles,
we conclude that the termination of the agreement provides no
basis for disturbing the district court’s order.
Finally, Curtain claims that the district court erred by
concluding that the forum-selection clause applies to the claims
raised in its complaint. We conclude, however, that the
district court correctly determined that all of Curtain’s claims
arise in connection with the distribution agreement and, thus,
fall within the ambit of the broadly worded forum-selection
clause. Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s order.
We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal
contentions are adequately presented in the materials before
this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.
AFFIRMED
4