{"id":886324,"date":"2016-01-06T13:14:20","date_gmt":"2016-01-06T20:14:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=886324"},"modified":"2016-01-06T13:14:20","modified_gmt":"2016-01-06T20:14:20","slug":"4-court-of-appeal-opens-pandoras-box-on-definition-of-contractor-for-forum-selection-clauses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/4-court-of-appeal-opens-pandoras-box-on-definition-of-contractor-for-forum-selection-clauses\/","title":{"rendered":"#4 &#8211; Court of Appeal Opens Pandora\u2019s Box on Definition of \u201cContractor\u201d for Forum Selection Clauses"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>David A. Harris and Abigail e. Lighthart | Haight Brown &amp; Bonesteel LLP | September 30, 2015<\/p>\n<p>In <em>Vita Planning and Landscape Architecture, Inc. v. HKS Architects, Inc.<\/em> (\u201c<em>Vita Planning<\/em>\u201d), the First Appellate District held California\u2019s Code of Civil Procedure section 410.42 (\u201cSection 410.42\u201d) which prohibits an out-of-state contractor from requiring a California subcontractor to litigate disputes in a state other than California, applies not only to traditional \u201ccontractors\u201d and \u201csubcontractors\u201d but also to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/architects-and-design-professionals-can-be-held-liable-for-defects-based-on-third-party-claims\/\" target=\"_blank\">design professionals<\/a> and architects.<\/p>\n<p>In <em>Vita Planning<\/em>, a dispute arose when HKS, a Texas based architectural firm, refused to pay Vita Planning and Architecture (\u201cVita\u201d), a landscape design firm, for work on a luxury hotel in Mammoth Lakes, California (\u201cProject\u201d). HKS contended it was not required to pay Vita until it was paid by the owner of the Project, and any claims regarding the work needed to be filed in Texas pursuant to a forum selection clause contained in a Prime Contract between HKS and the Owner. The forum clause was \u201cincorporated by reference\u201d into an unsigned \u201cstandard form\u201d agreement between HKS and Vita. Despite the forum clause, Vita filed a Complaint against HKS in Marin County Superior Court.<\/p>\n<p>Seven months after HKS answered the Complaint, it filed a motion to enforce the Texas forum selection clause. Vita opposed HKS\u2019s motion, arguing among other things, that Section 410.42, which invalidated <a href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/supreme-court-rules-courts-must-give-controlling-weight-forum-selection-clause-transferring-action-selected-forum-exceptional-circumstances\/\" target=\"_blank\">forum selection clauses<\/a> in construction contracts applied to the parties\u2019 contract. The trial court rejected Vita\u2019s contentions and found that neither HKS nor Vita were covered by the section. The trial court held Section 410.42 only applied to \u201cconstruction contractors and subcontractors.\u201d Since the parties did not actually build any portion of the Project and were classified as \u201cdesign professionals\u201d the court held Section 410.42 did not apply.<\/p>\n<p>On appeal, Vita argued: 1) the standard form contract with HKS was unenforceable since it was unsigned; 2) HKS\u2019s motion to enforce the forum selection clause was untimely, and; 3) if the contract was enforceable, Section 410.42 nonetheless invalidated the forum selection clause.<\/p>\n<p>The Court of Appeal overruled the trial court. The Court dismissed Vita\u2019s first argument regarding the existence of a valid contract because Vita alleged a breach of contract cause of action in its Complaint: \u201cVita\u2019s judicial admissions regarding the existence of the Contract are binding.\u201d The Court also held the lack of signatures on the contract did not render it unenforceable because Vita performed under the terms and conditions of the contract and HKS accepted Vita\u2019s performance. (Cal. Civil Code \u00a7\u00a71589, 1584).<\/p>\n<p>Although the Court found the parties\u2019 unsigned contract was enforceable, it rejected the trial court\u2019s finding that Section 410.42 did not cover \u201cdesign professionals\u201d such as HKS and Vita. As such, it held the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/bar-against-forum-selection-clauses-in-construction-contracts-extended-to-design-professionals\/\" target=\"_blank\">forum selection clause<\/a> was unenforceable.<\/p>\n<p>The Court noted Section 410.42 did not define the terms \u201cContractor\u201d and \u201cSubcontractor.\u201d As such, the terms \u201cshould be construed in their statutory context.\u201d The Court reasoned the statutory intent of the section was to broadly protect California companies from being forced to litigate their claims out of state. If the section only covered \u201ctraditional builders\u201d the intent of the statute would be defeated.<\/p>\n<p>The Court concluded the terms \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/contractor-i-do-not-think-that-employers-liability-exclusion-means-what-you-think-it-means\/\" target=\"_blank\">Contractor<\/a>\u201d and \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/beware-design-professionals-construction-defect-litigation-is-not-just-for-subcontractors-anymore\/\" target=\"_blank\">Subcontractor<\/a>\u201d included parties who \u201ccontracted to perform work\u201d on the Project. Under this definition, the Court found&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hbblaw.com\/Court-of-Appeal-Opens-Pandoras-Box-on-Definition-of-Contractor-for-Forum-Selection-Clauses-09-30-2015\/\" target=\"_blank\">To finish reading this article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>David A. Harris and Abigail e. Lighthart | Haight Brown &amp; Bonesteel LLP | September 30, 2015 In Vita Planning and Landscape Architecture, Inc. v. HKS Architects, Inc. (\u201cVita Planning\u201d), the First Appellate District held California\u2019s Code of Civil Procedure section 410.42 (\u201cSection 410.42\u201d) which prohibits an out-of-state contractor from requiring a California subcontractor to&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/4-court-of-appeal-opens-pandoras-box-on-definition-of-contractor-for-forum-selection-clauses\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">#4 &#8211; Court of Appeal Opens Pandora\u2019s Box on Definition of \u201cContractor\u201d for Forum Selection Clauses<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9,164,172],"tags":[88,18,494,157],"class_list":["post-886324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-construction-contracts","category-construction-dispute","category-construction-law-2","tag-california","tag-contractor","tag-forum-selection","tag-subcontractor","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>#4 - Court of Appeal Opens Pandora\u2019s Box on Definition of \u201cContractor\u201d for Forum Selection Clauses - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"while the other terms of the standard form contract were enforceable, forum selection clauses was not\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/4-court-of-appeal-opens-pandoras-box-on-definition-of-contractor-for-forum-selection-clauses\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"#4 - Court of Appeal Opens Pandora\u2019s Box on Definition of \u201cContractor\u201d for Forum Selection Clauses - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"while the other terms of the standard form contract were enforceable, forum selection clauses was not\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/4-court-of-appeal-opens-pandoras-box-on-definition-of-contractor-for-forum-selection-clauses\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-01-06T20:14:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@adviseconsult\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@adviseconsult\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/4-court-of-appeal-opens-pandoras-box-on-definition-of-contractor-for-forum-selection-clauses\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/4-court-of-appeal-opens-pandoras-box-on-definition-of-contractor-for-forum-selection-clauses\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7\"},\"headline\":\"#4 &#8211; Court of Appeal Opens Pandora\u2019s Box on Definition of \u201cContractor\u201d for Forum Selection Clauses\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-01-06T20:14:20+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/4-court-of-appeal-opens-pandoras-box-on-definition-of-contractor-for-forum-selection-clauses\/\"},\"wordCount\":556,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"california\",\"contractor\",\"Forum Selection\",\"Subcontractor\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Construction Contracts\",\"Construction Dispute\",\"Construction Law\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/4-court-of-appeal-opens-pandoras-box-on-definition-of-contractor-for-forum-selection-clauses\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/4-court-of-appeal-opens-pandoras-box-on-definition-of-contractor-for-forum-selection-clauses\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/4-court-of-appeal-opens-pandoras-box-on-definition-of-contractor-for-forum-selection-clauses\/\",\"name\":\"#4 - Court of Appeal Opens Pandora\u2019s Box on Definition of \u201cContractor\u201d for Forum Selection Clauses - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-01-06T20:14:20+00:00\",\"description\":\"while the other terms of the standard form contract were enforceable, forum selection clauses was not\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/4-court-of-appeal-opens-pandoras-box-on-definition-of-contractor-for-forum-selection-clauses\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\",\"description\":\"Construction Expert Witnesses\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Advise & Consult\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png\",\"width\":162,\"height\":75,\"caption\":\"Advise & Consult\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/adviseconsult\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company-beta\/204526\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/MrConstructionExpert\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.expertwitnessinconstruction.com\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"#4 - Court of Appeal Opens Pandora\u2019s Box on Definition of \u201cContractor\u201d for Forum Selection Clauses - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","description":"while the other terms of the standard form contract were enforceable, forum selection clauses was not","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/4-court-of-appeal-opens-pandoras-box-on-definition-of-contractor-for-forum-selection-clauses\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"#4 - Court of Appeal Opens Pandora\u2019s Box on Definition of \u201cContractor\u201d for Forum Selection Clauses - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","og_description":"while the other terms of the standard form contract were enforceable, forum selection clauses was not","og_url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/4-court-of-appeal-opens-pandoras-box-on-definition-of-contractor-for-forum-selection-clauses\/","og_site_name":"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/","article_published_time":"2016-01-06T20:14:20+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@adviseconsult","twitter_site":"@adviseconsult","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/4-court-of-appeal-opens-pandoras-box-on-definition-of-contractor-for-forum-selection-clauses\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/4-court-of-appeal-opens-pandoras-box-on-definition-of-contractor-for-forum-selection-clauses\/"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7"},"headline":"#4 &#8211; Court of Appeal Opens Pandora\u2019s Box on Definition of \u201cContractor\u201d for Forum Selection Clauses","datePublished":"2016-01-06T20:14:20+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/4-court-of-appeal-opens-pandoras-box-on-definition-of-contractor-for-forum-selection-clauses\/"},"wordCount":556,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization"},"keywords":["california","contractor","Forum Selection","Subcontractor"],"articleSection":["Construction Contracts","Construction Dispute","Construction Law"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/4-court-of-appeal-opens-pandoras-box-on-definition-of-contractor-for-forum-selection-clauses\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/4-court-of-appeal-opens-pandoras-box-on-definition-of-contractor-for-forum-selection-clauses\/","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/4-court-of-appeal-opens-pandoras-box-on-definition-of-contractor-for-forum-selection-clauses\/","name":"#4 - Court of Appeal Opens Pandora\u2019s Box on Definition of \u201cContractor\u201d for Forum Selection Clauses - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-01-06T20:14:20+00:00","description":"while the other terms of the standard form contract were enforceable, forum selection clauses was not","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/4-court-of-appeal-opens-pandoras-box-on-definition-of-contractor-for-forum-selection-clauses\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/","name":"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","description":"Construction Expert Witnesses","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Advise & Consult","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png","width":162,"height":75,"caption":"Advise & Consult"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/","https:\/\/x.com\/adviseconsult","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company-beta\/204526\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/MrConstructionExpert"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.expertwitnessinconstruction.com"]}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2ztG6-3Izy","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/886324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=886324"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/886324\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":886325,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/886324\/revisions\/886325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=886324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=886324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=886324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}