PERSONAL JURISDICTION Flashcards
Bulge provision Rule
a federal court has personal jurisdiction over a party who is served within a U.S. judicial district and not more than 100 miles from where the summons is issued, even if state law would otherwise not permit such service.
This rule applies to third-party defendants joined by impleader, even if the service is outside of the state and beyond its long-arm statute jurisdiction.
Service of a Summons Rule
Under Rule 4(k)(1)(A), the service of a summons in a federal action establishes personal jurisdiction over a defendant “who is subject to the jurisdiction of a court of general jurisdiction in the state where the district court is located.”
The federal court must generally determine personal jurisdiction as if it were a court of the state in which it is situated. It would therefore look to that state’s jurisdictional statute.
PJ for each Federal Court in Every Federal district rule
A statute can contain a provision for nationwide service of process to attain personal jurisdiction. However, this does not mean that each federal court in every federal district would have personal jurisdiction over a defendant sued under that statute.
Rule for Defendant’s only contact with the forum state
When a cause of action arises out of or closely relates to a defendant’s contact with the forum state, jurisdiction may be warranted even if that contact is the defendant’s only contact with the forum state. This type of jurisdiction is referred to as “specific jurisdiction.” Due process concerns are met if the exercise of jurisdiction is reasonably foreseeable by the foreign defendant.
