Venue

Venue has been defined [Black’s Law Dictionary 1557 (6th ed. 1990)] as "the geographical location in which a court with jurisdiction may hear and determine a case."

The following venue provision language is currently acceptable:

This agreement shall be governed by and construed and enforced in accordance with the laws of the State of Texas. Venue will be in accordance with the Texas Civil Practices and Remedies Code and any amendments thereto.

At one time, our venue provision did include what county venue would be in, but it is more accurate to leave venue up to the governing law.

When negotiating a contract with an agency that does not have an office in the State of Texas it is important to attempt to negotiate for venue to be in Texas using the language as specified above. If the services contracted for are to be performed out-of-state, it is understandable that the agency will insist upon venue being in their state.

If the agency insists upon venue outside of Texas, you have two options:

  • You can request venue be omitted from the agreement.
    This allows whichever party pursuing litigation to do so in either state or they can also file in federal court.
  • You can agree to venue being out-of-state.

The Office of General Counsel at TTUHSC recommends that the contract's Contract Manager and the responsible dean or vice president be aware that should litigation arise in another state, the department will bear the costs of that litigation. These costs include, but are not limited to, hiring an attorney in that state, transportation for our attorneys to go to that state to work with the hired attorney, as well as court costs.