Email list hosting service & mailing list manager


Choice of Law James L Bates 14 Jun 2002 12:31 EST

We recently received an award from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in
which a clause, Choice of Law and Forum, specifies the agreement will be
governed and interpreted under Maryland law and requires adjudication
within the State of Maryland.  I advised the HHMI that as a state supported
institution, state law prohibits us from accepting an agreement with
provisions stipulating that the agreement will be interpreted according to
the laws of another jurisdiction or stating that a suit will be brought in
a jurisdiction outside of this state.  I suggested that we either remain
silent on this issue or substitute "This agreement will be governed in
accordance with applicable laws and regulations"

HHMI has rejected my suggestion and basically stated we must accept the
contract with absolutely no changes.  I know that other state institutions
with similar statutes have recently received contracts from HHMI with
identical clauses.  Have you been able overcome this obstacle of
accommodating HHMI while complying with your state laws?  I would
appreciate any advice you can offer.

Jim
________________________________________
James L. Bates
Director, Office of Sponsored Programs
330 Thomas Boyd Hall
Louisiana State University
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803
Phone: (225)578-3386
Fax: (225)578-5403
e-mail: xxxxxx@lsu.edu

======================================================================
 Instructions on how to use the RESADM-L Mailing List, including
 subscription information and a web-searchable archive, are available
 via our web site at http://www.hrinet.org (click on "Listserv Lists")
======================================================================