Lauro Lines S.r.l. v. Chasser et al.

Decided May 22, 1989. William Joseph Brennan Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 88-23 · 490 U.S. 495 (1989) · Cited 268 times

Holding

An interlocutory order denying a defendant's motion to dismiss a damages action on the basis of a contractual forum-selection clause is not immediately appealable under 1291.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 9–0.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Van Cauwenberghe v. Biard · 486 U.S. 517 (1988)
• Cohen v. Beneficial Industrial Loan Corp. · 337 U.S. 541 (1949)
• Mitchell v. Forsyth · 472 U.S. 511 (1985)
• Coopers & Lybrand v. Livesay · 437 U.S. 463 (1978)
• Abney v. United States · 431 U.S. 651 (1977)
• Catlin v. United States · 324 U.S. 229 (1945)
• Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. v. Mayacamas Corp. · 485 U.S. 271 (1988)
• Nixon v. Fitzgerald · 457 U.S. 731 (1982)
• Richardson-Merrell Inc. v. Koller Ex Rel. Koller · 472 U.S. 424 (1985)
• United States v. MacDonald · 435 U.S. 850 (1978)
• Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital v. Mercury Construction Corp. · 460 U.S. 1 (1983)
• The Bremen v. Zapata Off-Shore Co. · 407 U.S. 1 (1972)
• Midland Asphalt Corp. v. United States · 489 U.S. 794 (1989)
• Helstoski v. Meanor · 442 U.S. 500 (1979)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

Explore from here

William Joseph Brennan Jr.’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1989). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).