| Litigants: | The Bremen v. Zapata Off-Shore Company |
| Arguedate: | March 21 |
| Argueyear: | 1972 |
| Decidedate: | June 12 |
| Decideyear: | 1972 |
| Fullname: | The Bremen, et al. v. Zapata Off-Shore Company |
| Usvol: | 407 |
| Uspage: | 1 |
| Parallelcitations: | 92 S. Ct. 1907; 32 L. Ed. 2d 513 |
| Holding: | The forum-selection clause, which was a vital part of the towing contract, is binding on the parties unless respondent can meet the heavy burden of showing that its enforcement would be unreasonable, unfair, or unjust. |
| Majority: | Burger |
| Joinmajority: | Brennan, Stewart, White, Marshall, Blackmun, Powell, Rehnquist |
| Concurrence: | White |
| Dissent: | Douglas |
The Bremen v. Zapata Off-Shore Company, 407 U.S. 1 (1972), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court considered when a U.S. court should uphold the validity of a contractual forum selection clause.
The parties had entered into an agreement for a drilling rig to be towed from Louisiana to Italy, which included a clause stating that disputes would be settled by a court in England. When a storm forced the towing party to make land in Tampa, Florida, the other party sued there. After the lower courts refused to uphold the forum selection clause, the Supreme Court held that it was enforceable unless the party seeking to avoid it could meet the high burden of showing it to be unreasonable or unjust.