¶1 San Diego Gas & Electric Co. (San Diego) has petitioned this Court to exercise supervisory control in relation to a proceeding pending before the Ninth Judicial District Court, Toole County, denominated NaturEner USA, LLC v. San Diego Gas & Electric Co., Cause No. DV-13076. San Diego requests that this Court determine that the District Court is proceeding under a mistake of law based on its April 28, 2014 Order denying San Diego’s Motion to Dismiss or Stay. We grant the petition.
BACKGROUND
¶2 The underlying action arose as the result of a contractual dispute between San Diego and several NaturEner wind-energy companies (collectively, NaturEner). San Diego is a California utility, and NaturEner is a group of Delaware limited liability companies headquartered in California. In January 2012, San Diego and NaturEner entered into two contracts. The first is an agreement (Purchase Agreement) for San Diego to purchase renewable energy credits and electricity from NaturEner. The credits and electricity are generated at the Rim Rock wind farm in Glacier and Toole counties, Montana. The Purchase Agreement contains the following clauses:
This Agreement and the rights and duties of the Parties hereunder shall be governed by and construed, enforced and performed in accordance with the laws of the state of California, without regard to principles of conflicts of law.
THE PARTIES HEREBY CONSENT TO CONDUCT ALL DISPUTE RESOLUTION, JUDICIAL ACTIONS OR PROCEEDINGS ARISING DIRECTLY, INDIRECTLY OR OTHERWISE IN CONJUNCTION WITH, OUT OF, RELATED TO OR ARISING FROM THIS AGREEMENT IN THE CITY OF SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA.
(Emphasis in original.)
¶3 The second contract (Contribution Agreement) requires San Diego to invest approximately $285 million to acquire an equity interest in the Rim Rock wind farm. The Contribution Agreement contains a clause specifying that New York law applies in the event of a dispute, and that “THE PARTIES HEREBY IRREVOCABLY SUBMIT TO THE NON EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION OF ANY STATE OR FEDERAL COURT IN NEW YORK COUNTY, NEW
¶4 On December 19, 2013, San Diego filed suit in California's San Diego Superior Court, seeking a declaration that NaturEner had not satisfied the “Avian Conditions” of the agreements. The next day, NaturEner filed a nearly identical suit in Montana’s Ninth Judicial District Court, seeking a declaration that it had satisfied the “Avian Conditions,” and alleging breach of the Contribution Agreement and breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing. San Diego filed a Motion to Dismiss or Stay, which the District Court denied.
¶5 San Diego then petitioned this Court for a writ of supervisory control, or in the alternative, a writ of review. This Court subsequently ordered that a response be filed by NaturEner, which has been filed. The issue raised in San Diego’s petition is whether the District Court erred as a matter of law by accepting jurisdiction over the parties’ dispute in light of the forum selection clause contained in the Purchase Agreement, as well as forum non conveniens and principles of comity.
DISCUSSION
¶6 This Court “has general supervisory control over all other courts.” Mont. Const, art. VII, § 2(2). However, “Supervisory control is an extraordinary remedy, reserved for extraordinary circumstances.” Stokes v. Mont. Thirteenth Jud. Dist. Ct.,
¶7 We conclude that this case is appropriate for the exercise of supervisory control. The issues raised by San Diego are purely legal, involving questions of contract interpretation and judicial expediency. Requiring an appeal from final judgment could result in inconsistent judgments from multiple states’ courts, protracted and redundant litigation, and undue burden on state resources. We have previously explained that promoting judicial economy and avoiding procedural entanglements are adequate grounds for this Court to issue a writ of supervisory control. Truman v. Mont. Eleventh Jud. Dist. Ct.,
A. Choice of Law Provision
¶8 “Where a contract contains both a choice of law clause and a forum selection clause, we first determine whether the choice of law clause is valid.” Polzin v. Appleway Equip. Leasing, Inc.,
B. Forum Selection Clause
¶10 In California, forum selection clauses are valid and will be given effect in the court’s discretion and in the absence of a showing that enforcement would be unreasonable. Smith, Valentino & Smith, Inc. v. Super. Ct. of Los Angeles Cnty.,
¶11 California courts construe forum selection clauses as either mandatory or permissive. Clauses containing “language of exclusivity” are held to be mandatory, while clauses that merely provide for submission to jurisdiction in a particular forum without requiring it are held to be permissive. Animal Film, LLC v. D.E.J. Prods., Inc.,
¶12 In the present case, the District Court determined that the forum selection clause contained in the Purchase Agreement is permissive and does not require the parties to litigate in California. San Diego argues that this was error and that the forum selection clause is mandatory. San Diego focuses heavily on the use of the words “conduct all.” Such language, it maintains, establishes that “[t]he parties consented to the place of litigation, not simply to a court’s jurisdiction ....” In support, San Diego cites Paster v. Putney Student Travel, Inc.,
¶13 San Diego also analogizes to the following cases, which either interpreted their respective forum selection clauses as mandatory or indicated that they would have been enforced as mandatory absent other procedural issues: Marvin Kommel Prods. v. Lettergraphics Intl., Inc.,
¶14 The following forum selection clauses have also been held to be mandatory by California courts: Cal-State Bus. Prods. & Servs., Inc.,
¶15 NaturEner maintains that the forum selection clause contained in the Purchase Agreement is permissive. NaturEner argues that “[t]he word ‘consent’ connotes ‘acquiescence’ ... and lacks the compulsory connotation of a word like ‘shall.’ ” NaturEner and the District Court in its Order cite several cases as examples of forum selection clauses that have been held to be permissive. In BrowserCam Inc.,
¶16 Similarly, in Softwareworks Group, Inc.,
“Each of the parties to this Note consents to the jurisdiction and venue of the courtsof the state of New Jersey and the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey... with respect to any action relating to a claim, dispute or controversy arising out of or in connection with this Note....”
The court determined that this type of language “indicates consent to jurisdiction and venue in New Jersey, but does not mandate such jurisdiction and venue.” Softwareworks Group, Inc.,
¶17 We conclude that the preceding authority establishes that the forum selection clause contained in the Purchase Agreement is mandatory in nature.
¶ 18 In contrast, as San Diego notes, the present forum selection clause utilizes the phrase “conduct all.” This “conduct all” language is analogous in effect to the language that California courts have held to be mandatory, e.g. “[a]ny and all suits ... must... be instituted” and “[a]ny controversy ... shall be litigated.” Like the words “institute[]” and “litigateD,” “conduct” is a verb that relates to the taking of a definite action. The forum selection clause specifies that “all” such action is to be taken in San Diego. Certainly, the clause does not use the words “shall” or “must,” but it strains logic to its breaking point to argue that one could agree to “conduct all” litigation in San Diego but at the same time conduct it elsewhere. Although the clause contains the term “consent,” it is not drafted as a consent to jurisdiction clause. It is in the nature of a promise to litigate all disputes in a particular forum, as opposed to simply authorizing a particular court or courts to hear a dispute. Under a plain reading, the phrase “conduct all” specifically limits the parties’ litigation activities to a single forum (mandatory), and does not merely state that one
¶19 On the other hand, the forum selection clause contained in the Contribution Agreement (“THE PARTIES HEREBY IRREVOCABLY SUBMIT TO THE NON EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION OF ANY STATE OR FEDERAL COURT IN NEW YORK COUNTY, NEW YORK....”) is permissive. By submitting to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of any New York County court, the parties have authorized such courts to exercise jurisdiction but have not foreclosed the possibility of litigating elsewhere. NaturEner urges us to read this forum selection clause in conjunction with the forum selection clause contained in the Purchase Agreement to conclude that both are permissive. NaturEner argues that pursuant to Cal. Civ. Code § 1642, “[w]here, as here, ‘[sjeveral contracts relat[e] to the same matters,’ are ‘between the same parties,’ and address ‘substantially one transaction,’ they are ‘to be taken together.’ ” Therefore, according to NaturEner, these provisions “must be harmonized, rather than interpreted in a way that ‘render[s] some meaningless,’ ” citing Zalkind v. Ceradyne, Inc.,
¶20 While NaturEner accurately cites one of California’s canons of contract interpretation, it does not apply here. The Purchase Agreement and the Contribution Agreement were specifically drafted to contain separate choice of law clauses (California vs. New York) and separate forum selection clauses (San Diego vs. New York County). The rules of contract interpretation require courts to give effect to the mutual intentions of the parties, based, if possible, solely on the provisions of the contract. Waller v. Truck Ins. Exch., Inc.,
¶21 Lastly on this point, NaturEner asks us to find that a mandatory forum selection clause violates Montana’s public policy and that San Diego waived its venue challenge by failing to raise it in its first appearance. We find neither of these arguments persuasive under the facts of this case and hold that the Purchase Agreement must be litigated in the San Diego Superior Court.
C. Forum Non Conveniens
¶22 Forum non conveniens is a common law doctrine that “allows a court to ‘resist imposition upon its jurisdiction even when jurisdiction is authorized by the letter of a general venue statute.’ ” Haug v. Burlington N. R.R.,
¶23 San Diego argues that the District Court should have dismissed NaturEner’s action based on forum non conveniens for several reasons: witnesses and documents are more readily accessible in California; a Montana lawsuit would unduly burden Montana with a dispute between Californians regarding a California Contract; and California courts are more familiar with the California law governing the Purchase Agreement dispute. NaturEner, on the other hand, contends that the District Court properly concluded that Montana has a substantial interest in this case; Montana courts are fully capable of applying California law; Montana witnesses or a site visit to the Rim Rock wind farm might be necessary; electronic discovery practices make discovery equally efficient in Montana and California; and the dispute could be most expediently resolved in
¶24 Having already determined that the forum selection clause contained in the Purchase Agreement is mandatory and must be litigated in California, we believe that the related issues regarding the Contribution Agreement would be “more appropriately and justly tried” there as well. We have recognized that § 25-2-201(2) and (3), MCA, is closely related to the doctrine of forum, non conveniens, if not an outright codification. State ex rel. Burlington N. R.R. v. Dist. Ct.,
¶25 Pursuant to Nutter, there is a strong possibility of inconsistent results here if mirror image trials are held in both Montana and California. As we have explained, “all matters should be addressed by one court and under one cause number, thus ehminating the prospect of conflicting rulings by two separate courts.” Yellowstone Cnty. v. Drew,
¶26 In sum, the circumstances warrant exercise of supervisory control in this case. The Purchase Agreement requires the parties to litigate all disputes, at least as they pertain to that contract, in San Diego. The District Court was proceeding in error to conclude otherwise. The Contribution Agreement involves similar issues and would be “more appropriately and justly tried” in the same forum to promote judicial expediency and prevent inconsistent judgments. The parties’ remaining arguments regarding comity need not be addressed.
¶27 IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Application for Writ of Supervisory Control is GRANTED.
¶28 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the District Court’s Order of April 28, 2014, denying San Diego’s Motion to Dismiss or Stay is VACATED. This matter is remanded to the District Court with instructions to DISMISS the action in accordance with this Opinion. ¶29 The Clerk of this Court is directed to provide copies of this Opinion and Order to all counsel of record and the Honorable Brenda R. Gilbert, Ninth Judicial District Court Judge, presiding.
DATED this 18th day of July, 2014.
Notes
The San Diego Superior Court issued a ruling on May 22,2014, in Case No. 37-2013-00080682-CU-CO-CTL, determining that this forum selection clause is permissive. The court offered little analysis on this point, and its ruling is not binding in any event. The court did note, however, that even a permissive forum selection clause “is entitled to substantial weight.”
On July 2, 2014, San Diego provided this Court with a supplemental filing indicating that the San Diego Superior Court has scheduled the California trial for November 26,2014. The District Court, on the other hand, has scheduled the Montana trial for January 2, 2015.
