Jurisdiction and Venue Flashcards
What are the types of federal subject matter jurisdiction?
- Federal Question
- Diversity
- Supplemental
- Removal
What does subject matter jurisdiction concern?
The nature of the dispute
What are the elements of federal question jurisdiction?
1) A well pleaded complaint
2) A federal question in dispute
What does a well pleaded complaint require?
The federal claim must be in the plaintiff’s affirmative side of the lawsuit (≠ defense claim)
When a federal question is inside a state law claim, federal jurisdiction occurs when?
1) If the federal law is actually in dispute
2) The claim demands the expertise of federal judges, and ought to be resolved as uniformly as possible
3) It is not so commonly present in state law actions that federal courts would end up taking a large portion of state courts’ traditional jurisdiction
* More Info:* Federal Questions and State Law
What does a diversity action require?
1) Complete diversity between plaintiffs and defendants
2) Amount in controversy > 75k
When does complete diversity exist?
No plaintiff and defendant are citizens of the same state
What is the key inquiry in federal question jurisdiction?
Is there a federal question in the plaintiff’s complaint?
For diversity actions, citizenship is counted at what time?
Citizenship is measured at the time of filing
When is complete diversity not required for jurisdiction?
In class action lawsuits if:
1) There are more than 100 members in the plaintiff’s class
2) The amount in controversy is greater than 5 million dollars
And
3) Any single member of the class is diverse from any single defendant
How does complaint amendment impact diversity?
Diversity is re-evaluated at the time of the amendment
Where is a human being a citizen?
A human being’s state of citizenship is the state in which she resides and intends to remain indefinitely (i.e. no present plans to leave).
A human being’s citizenship does not change until what happens?
They reside in a new place and intend to remain indefinitely in that new place.
Where is a corporation a citizen?
- Where it is incorporated
And
- Where it maintains its principal place of business
Where is a corporation’s principal place of business?
Where the executives do their business: “the brain/nerve center”
More Info: Principal Place of Business
When evaluating diversity jurisdiction for a corporation, Plaintiff’s must be diverse from?
Both the place of incorporation and the principal place of business
Where is an unincorporated association a citizen?
It is a citizen of every state where their members are citizens.
When litigation occurs through personal representatives, for the purpose of diversity jurisdiction, the key inquiry is into the citizenship of who?
Citizenship of the incapacitated party (the party in interest).
What does diversity jurisdiction require of the amount in controversy?
The plaintiff’s allegation of her financial injury must be greater than $75k unless it appears to a legal certainty that such allegations are cannot be correct
What is the amount in controversy when there are multiple claims against the same defendant?
The sum all of the claims together
What is the amount in controversy when there are multiple claims against multiple defendants?
For each defendant the amount in controversy is equal to the claims against only them; claims of other defendants are not aggregated together.
What does supplemental jurisdiction allow for?
A claim falling outside out of federal question or diversity jurisdiction to piggy-back on a claim that does have federal jurisdiction.
What are the steps to evaluating supplemental jurisdiction?
Step 1: Does the claim seeking supplemental jurisdiction arise from the same transaction or occurrence as another claim falling within federal question or diversity
Step 2: If the anchor claim is there in diversity, then the plaintiff cannot use supplemental to sue third party defendants or stacked parties
Step 3: Federal court may decline jurisdiction if:
(a) the supplemental claim involves a novel and complex issue of state law
(b) the supplemental claim substantially predominates over the federal question or diversity claim
(c) the court has dismissed the anchor claim
(d) in exceptional circumstances, where other compelling reasons exist
* More Info:* Supplemental Jurisdiction
What does removal jurisdiction permit?
It permits a federal court to hear a case that was originally filed in state court.
Removal is only an option for who?
Defendants
What are the grounds for removal?
A defendant can remove a case from state to federal court if the original well pleaded complaint by the plaintiff could have been filed in federal court (FQ, Diversity, Supplemental)
When can a defendant not remove a case?
Home-State Defendant Rule:
- Federal jurisdiction would be grounded only in diversity jurisdiction
- The defendant is a citizen of the state where the action is filed