Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd. v. Regal-Beloit Corp. (The K-Line Case)

Regal-Beloit Corporation (plaintiff) arranged for Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha and its agent K-Line (defendants) to ship goods from China to the inland United States under a single through bill of lading covering both the ocean and inland-rail legs, with a forum-selection clause designating Tokyo. After the goods arrived by ship in California and were loaded onto Union Pacific Railroad (plaintiff) for inland transport, a train derailment destroyed them. Regal sued in California state court; K-Line removed to federal court and moved to dismiss based on the bill of lading's forum-selection clause. The district court granted the motion, but the Ninth Circuit reversed, holding the Carmack Amendment, which regulates rail carriers and generally preempts conflicting forum clauses, applied and displaced the Tokyo clause. The Supreme Court granted certiorari.