Jean-Marc Abadou v. Dimitri N. Trad

RABINOWITZ, Chief Justice. OPINION. The only issue presented is a narrow one: the validity and effect of a contractual choice-of-forum
clause designating Lebanon's courts as the exclusive forum for the resolution of disputes arising from the parties' contract.
1 At the time of the contract, entered into at Beirut in 1974, appellant Abadou was a French national and appellee Trad was
a Lebanese citizen. Both resided in Beirut. Abadou has subsequently become a resident of the United States. The contract concerned
the parties' joint ownership of lands purchased in Alaska and in the State of Washington, and included the parties' agreements
regarding their respective duties to make payments on the subject land sales contracts. The contract also involved land in
Lebanon, the parties' respective interests in a corporation holding land in Italy, and settlements concerning other past dealings.