ERDEM-NEWSLETTER-2018-metin

281 LAW OF CIVIL PROCEDURE requested the Federal Court to change its ruling. Finding Swatch’s claim to be legitimate, the Federal Court changed its practice regard- ing Forum Shopping in its judgment dated 14 March 2018 and num- bered 4A_417/2017, and ruled that in the event a negative declaratory action is filed in order to provide for a forum that is to the plaintiff’s benefit, the presence of a legitimate benefit should be accepted. Upon this decision, the file was sent again to the Bern Trade Court to rule with respect to its jurisdiction. “Forum Shopping ” The parties of the dispute may seek to have the case tried before the courts of a particular jurisdiction in order to select the court that is most appropriate for them, and to prevent the proceedings from being conducted before other courts, as the court of competent jurisdiction may affect the outcome of the case. As such, forum shopping can be described as “an effort by a party to file the case before a court that will be in its favor” 2 . Filing the case before a particular court may have several benefits for a party of the dispute. The law to be applied to the merits and procedure shall be determined according to the law of the place where the case is filed. The application of the rules of the jurisdiction that contains provisions that are in favor of the party or provisional rules that the court and the parties are more familiar with shall facilitate the proceedings, and may also result in a favorable decision for the plaintiff. In addition, every aspect of the case that is affected by lex fori shall be determined according to the place of the court. Negative Declaratory Action as a Method of Forum Shopping In the event a party of the dispute faces the threat of a lawsuit in a court that is not favorable to it, this party can provide for lis pendens by way of filing a negative declaratory action in a court where it feels it will receive a favorable judgment. If another case is filed before a 2 Black’s Law Dictionary defines forum shopping as “when a party attempts to have its action tried in a particular court or jurisdiction where it feels it will re- ceive the most favorable judgment or verdict”.