Wright-Moore Corporation v. Ricoh Corporation

Wright (plaintiff), an Indiana franchisee, had a franchise agreement with Ricoh (defendant) selecting New York law to govern any disputes. Ricoh terminated the franchise purely for its own economic reasons, without alleging any wrongdoing by Wright. Wright sued for breach of contract; the trial court applied Indiana law instead of the contractual New York choice, since Indiana franchise law requires good cause to terminate a franchise, and found Ricoh had terminated in good faith, entering summary judgment for Ricoh.

Whether a party to a contract can waive otherwise non-waivable legal protections through a choice-of-law provision.