The case involves Alabama Relocation Services, Inc. ("ARS") and Patricia Buchannan, who filed a complaint against COWS USA, LLC ("COWS"), Trailpods Acceptance Corporation ("Trailpods"), Michael Frank, Ana Frank, and Leonard Rosenberg ("the COWS defendants"). ARS is a moving and storage company based in Mobile, Alabama, and Buchannan is its vice president. COWS is a Florida-based company that sells portable storage containers. ARS and Buchannan allege that they entered into a dealership agreement with COWS, which required them to lease equipment from Trailpods and finance the purchase of COWS equipment through Ascentium Capital, LLC ("Ascentium"). However, they claim that despite making payments, the promised equipment was never delivered.
The COWS defendants filed a motion to dismiss the claims, arguing that the dealership agreement contained a forum-selection clause requiring disputes to be brought in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The Mobile Circuit Court denied their motion to dismiss. The COWS defendants then petitioned the Supreme Court of Alabama for a writ of mandamus, seeking an order directing the Mobile Circuit Court to vacate its order denying their motion to dismiss and to enter an order dismissing the claims.
The Supreme Court of Alabama granted the petition. The court found that the dealership agreement's forum-selection clause clearly required actions between the parties to be brought in Miami, Florida. The court concluded that ARS and Buchannan failed to clearly establish that enforcement of the forum-selection clause would be unreasonable. The court directed the Mobile Circuit Court to vacate its order denying the COWS defendants' motions to dismiss and to enter a new order dismissing the claims against the COWS defendants, without prejudice. View "Ex parte Cows USA, LLC" on Justia Law
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