Personal Jurisdiction Flashcards
PJ is the ability of a court to issue a binding
judgment over the parties in an action
Actions seeking monetary judgments are
in personam
Actions seeking declarations of the true owner of
specific property relative to everyone in the world are in rem
Actions seeking declaration of the true owneer between only the litigants are
Quasi in rem
For most cases, if PJ exists in state court
it will also exist in the relevant federal court as the Constitutional scope of FRCP 4(k)(1)(A) is broad.
PJ must exist over each…
individual claim of the lawsuit
In personam PJ is split into
General PJ and Specific PJ
General PJ exists when the claims are unrelated to events or contracts within the forum state where suit is brought. (They can happen anywhere in the world).
General PJ is good with any claim the plaiintiff has against the defendant.
Specific PJ exists when
the claims in the suit ARISE out of events in the forum state
The first step to evaluate PJ is whether the state
has an applicable LAS
For most civil cases, PJ in federal court has the
same boundaries as PJ in state court because of FRCP 4(k)(1) (A).
International shoe broadened the scope of PJ
over out-of-state defendants,
And States enacted LAS to address getting PJ over an out-of-state Defendant who was
absent of service in the forum state
An ennumerated LAS is more restrictive… while non-ennumerated LAS
either explicitly indicate or are interpreted to go to the full extent permitted by the constitution.
If LAS is enumerated, we must analyze whether
a claim fits within the state’s LAS, then do an International Shoe analysis
If a LAS goes tot the full extent of the Constitution, we can
simply do the IS analysis
Two conditions must be satisfied for a court to satisfy PJ:
1) PJ must be constitutionally permissible and 2) must be authorized by an appropriate LAS.
P’s consent to PJ when they file the action
in the court they have choosen (Keeton)
Individuals are subject to General PJ in the state where they
hold citizenship (Miliken)
Corporations are subject to General PJ where
they are are “at home” which can be the state of incorporation or PPOB (Daimler)
PJ is permited when a Defendant is physically
present in the forum state (Pennoyer)
The state’s LAS may aslo describe if PJ is applicable through a
business registration statute (a corporation agrees to PJ in exchange for business licensing in the state) if there is a registered agent in the state (Hess)
OR possibily through tag jurisdiction
and proper service of the complaint and summons (Burnham)
