On February 6, 2026, Justice Masley of the New York County Commercial Division issued a decision in U.S. Alliance Group, Inc. v. Jubilee Group LLC, 2026 NY Slip Op. 30471(U), holding that a forum selection clause is insufficient to create personal jurisdiction, explaining:
[T]here are issues of fact as to jurisdiction over the defendants, none of whom are in New York, which subverts a finding of likelihood of success. The fact that the choice of venue and law clauses in the contracts at issue both designate New York is not helpful to the plaintiff since neither clause mentions jurisdiction. Plaintiff’s quotation of the forum selection clauses in other cases that contain such jurisdictional language proves the point; there is no such language here. Such language must be in the contract for the court to exercise jurisdiction over the defendants in this case. Likewise, plaintiff quoted Credit Francais Intl., S.A. v Sociedad Financiera de Comercio, C.A. (128 Misc 2d 564, 567 [Sup Ct, NY County 1985]) for the proposition that explicit jurisdictional language is not necessary, but plaintiff omitted the relevant part of the decision, which undermines plaintiff’s argument here. (Id. [“[d]efendant appointed an agent headquartered in New York City to receive service of process in its behalf, and agreed to submit to and accept the jurisdiction of the New York courts.“].)
(Internal quotations and citations omitted).