Any legal disputes with Duolingo that are not handled through arbitration must be filed in Pennsylvania courts, applying Pennsylvania law — even if you live in a different state or country.
If you have a dispute with Duolingo that falls outside of arbitration, you would need to file your case in Pennsylvania — a significant practical barrier for users in other states or countries that effectively reinforces the arbitration requirement.
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Compare across platforms →Requiring disputes to be litigated in Pennsylvania courts under Pennsylvania law effectively makes it impractical for most consumers to pursue claims outside of arbitration, since the cost of litigating in another state is prohibitive.
REGULATORY FRAMEWORK: Forum selection and choice-of-law clauses engage state conflict of laws doctrine and the enforceability standards established by the Supreme Court in Atlantic Marine Construction Co. v. U.S. District Court (2013). Consumer protection claims under state law (e.g., California UCL, CCPA) may be subject to the mandatory law of the consumer's home state regardless of the contractual choice of Pennsylvania law. EU Regulation 1215/2012 (Brussels I Recast) and Rome I Regulation (593/2008) provide that EU consumers retain the protection of the mandatory laws of their member state.
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