Cohen v. Bank Leumi le-Israel
Eve Sternlight Cohen, co-special administrator of the Estate of Sara Sternlight and co-trustee of the Sternlight Family Trust, sued Bank Leumi le-Israel (Switzerland) (Bank Leumi) for damages allegedly caused by Bank Leumis negligent administration of bank accounts holding assets of Sara Sternlight and the trust. This court reversed the trial courts order dismissing the action for lack of personal jurisdiction over Bank Leumi and remanded for the trial court to consider Bank Leumis alternative argument that the forum selection clauses in the bank account agreements at issue, which designated Zurich, Switzerland as the jurisdiction for all legal proceedings against the bank, should be enforced. The trial court granted Bank Leumis motion to quash and dismissed the action finding that the forum selection clauses were valid and enforceable. In this appeal, Cohen contends that the trial court erred in granting the motion to dismiss based on the forum selection clauses. Specifically, she claims the trial court: (1) applied the wrong law in granting the motion; and (2) failed to consider all of the evidence and legal theories she presented, in particular the evidence supporting her theory Sara Sternlight entered the account agreements under undue influence. Cohen asserts that, if the trial court had considered undue influence, it would have been compelled to find the forum selection clauses invalid as a matter of law. As we shall explain, Cohen failed to overcome the presumption that the forum selection clauses were valid. Contrary to Cohens assertions, the record before this court indicates the trial court considered the evidence before it, including that which she claims supported her undue influence theory. In our view the court acted within its authority when it found that Sara Sternlight freely and voluntarily entered into the account opening agreements. Accordingly, Court affirm the judgment.
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