Personal Jurisdiction

Question 1

What is personal jurisdiction?

Answer 1

Personal jurisdiction refers to the ability of the court having subject matter jurisdiction to exercise power over a particular defendant or item of property

Question 2

What are the limitations of personal jurisdiction?

Answer 2

1) there must be a long-arm statute
2) it must be constitutional (fair and adequate notice and the defendant must have sufficient contacts with the forum state

Question 3

What are the three types of jurisdiction?

Answer 3

1) in personum - over the person of a particular defendant
2) Quasi in rem- specific people over specific property
3) In rem - adjudicate all persons in the world with respect to the property

Question 4

What are the five situations states have statutes granting personal jurisdiction?

Answer 4

1) defendant is present in the forum state
2) Defendant is domiciled in forum state
3) defendant is a citizen
4) defendant consents to jurisdiction
5) defendant has committed acts bringing him within forum state’s long arm statutes

Question 5

What are the constitutional limits to in personam jurisdiction?

Answer 5

1) sufficient nexus with the forum
2) relatedness of claim to contact
3) Fairness

Question 6

What does sufficient nexus mean?

Answer 6

The defendant must purposefully avail herself to the states laws and knew or reasonably should have anticipated that her activities in the forum made it foreseeable that she may be haled into court

Question 7

What is relatedness?

Answer 7

if the claim is related to the defendants contact in the forum

Question 8

What if the claim is unrelated?

Answer 8

Then the court must have general jurisdiction, which means the defendant must be “at home” in the state.

Question 9

What is fairness?

Answer 9

1) forum is gravely inconvenient
2) the forum’s states legitimate interest in providing redress for its resident
3) the plaintiff’s interest in obtaining convenient and effective relief
4) the interstate judicial system’s interest in efficiency
5) the shared interest of the states in furthering social policies.

Question 10

What are the two types of personal jurisdiction?

Answer 10

1) specific - if cause of action happened there

2) general - at home test

Question 11

Is the maintenance of a passive website in a state enough?

Answer 11

NO, there must be more activity to purposely direct activities to that forum.