Forum shopping - Definition and Overview

Forum shopping is the informal name given to the practice of attempting to get a case heard in the court thought most likely to provide a decision favorable to a plaintiff.

At times a plaintiff has a choice of bringing a case in one of several jurisdictions, by picking a federal rather than local jurisdiction, or a local rather than federal jurisdiction, or one of several localities.

Making that choice based on which court or judge or body of law or rules of evidence are most likely to favor the plaintiff's case, especially when the selection is obviously with this in mind, is termed forum shopping.

Forum shopping also happens in U.S. Federal criminal trials, especially as certain Districts and Circuits are widely thought to be more likely to favor the Government's case in particular issues or trials. It is often claimed that the U.S. Federal trials of alleged terrorists were forum shopped.

External links

• Form shopping in US Terrorism Cases and the "DC Sniper" Case (http://writ.corporate.findlaw.com/dorf/20021127.html)
• Forum Shopping in Patent and Antitrust Cases (warning, pdf) (http://articles.corporate.findlaw.com/articles/00984/008917.pdf)
• Rethinking Forum Shopping in Cyberspace (http://www.gmu.edu/departments/law/faculty/papers/docs/02-01.pdf)] by Kimberly A. Moore
• Forum Shopping in Patent Cases: Does Geographic Choice Affect Innovation? (http://mason.gmu.edu/%7Ekamoore/forumshopping.doc) by Kimberly A. Moore

Example Usage of shopping