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Almost all bills of lading contain a governing law clause because, in most cases,the carriage of goods by sea is international in character. This article discusses two topics associated with the governing law clause in bills of lading. The first is the scope of the application of the governing law clause and the second is the effectiveness of several unique governing law clauses primarily appearing in bills of lading. Regarding the first topic, the discussion begins with whether or not the governing law clause applies to the insurer subrogating the legal holder of the bill of lading after the insurer pays for damaged goods and follows with whether or not the governing law clause applies to the claim in tort. With respect to the second topic, the effectiveness of three types of governing law clauses is discussed, including the reference to the governing law clause contained in the charter party for incorporation into the bill of lading, the floating choice law clause, and the paramount clause.