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Simple English definitions for legal terms
forum shopping
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A quick definition of forum shopping:
Forum shopping is when someone tries to choose the court that will be most favorable to their case. This can happen between different states, federal and state courts in the same state, or even between different countries. Although it is sometimes allowed, it is generally not encouraged because of rules that try to prevent it. One of these rules is called the Erie Doctrine, which says that a federal court must use the same laws as the state it is in. This means that someone can't choose to go to federal court just to get different laws. Another rule is called forum non conveniens, which lets a court say that a case should be heard somewhere else if it would be too inconvenient for the defendant. Even though there are rules against it, some people still try to do forum shopping to get an advantage in their case.
A more thorough explanation:
Definition: Forum shopping is when someone tries to choose the court that will be most favorable to their case. This can happen between different states, between federal and state courts in the same state, or between courts in different countries. Although it is still allowed in some cases, forum shopping is generally discouraged in the legal system because of the Erie Doctrine and other conflict of law rules.
Example: A person might choose to sue a big company in a state court instead of a federal court because they think the local jury will be more likely to agree with them. Another example is when someone prefers one court over another because of its rules or procedures.
Explanation: These examples show how someone might try to choose a court that will be more likely to rule in their favor. This is called forum shopping. However, the legal system tries to discourage this because it can be unfair to the other party. The Erie Doctrine is one way that the legal system tries to prevent forum shopping by requiring federal courts to apply the same laws as state courts in certain cases.