Personal Jurisdiction (PJ)

Question 1

Four Traditional Bases of PJ

Answer 1

Domicile, Tagging, Express Consent (Service to Agent), and Voluntary Appearance (Filing an Answer or Contractual Agreement)

Question 2

For a fact pattern other than traditional bases, what do you apply?

Answer 2

Shoe Analysis

Question 3

What are the two types of PJ that require Shoe analysis?

Answer 3

General and Specific

Question 4

General Jurisdiction: What does that look like for a corporation?

Answer 4

When a defendant is “essentially at home” in the forum. A corporation is at home in their place of:
(1) Incorporation
(2) Principal Place of Business (PPB)

Question 5

Where is a corporation’s principal place of business?

Answer 5

This will be the “nerve center” where high level officers direct and make controlling decisions of the corporation’s activities.

Question 6

Does General Jurisdiction require assessing reasonableness/relatedness?

Answer 6

No

Question 7

If the defendant is not essentially “at home” in the forum, which kind of personal jurisdiction can the court exercise?

Answer 7

Specific Jurisdiction

Question 8

What are the elements for specific jurisdiction?

Answer 8

(1) Long-Arm Statute
(2) Minimum Contacts
(3) Relatedness
(4) Reasonableness

Question 9

What are the two types of long-arm statutes?

Answer 9

Copy the Constitution, Grocery List Variety

Question 10

What questions should you ask yourself when assessing minimum contacts?

Answer 10

(1) Are there sufficient contacts with the forum to warrant PJ?
(2) Has the defendant purposefully availed/targeted the forum?

Question 11

What fact patterns give us hints of what minimum contacts might look like?

Answer 11

(1) Direct Contract with the Forum (Burger King)
(2) Stream of Commerce (Nicastro)
(3) Intentional Torts (Calder and Walden)

Question 12

What should you look for in a fact pattern that involves a contractual agreement with a resident/business in the forum?

Answer 12

Consider who solicited who, where did negotiations take place, contemplated future consequences of enforcing the contract, the contract’s terms.

Question 13

Does making a contract/agreement with the forum resident automatically establish MC?

Answer 13

No

Question 14

What’s the difference between a passive and active buyer?

Answer 14

Passive Buyer: Merely places an order and accepts the seller’s price.

Active Buyer: Dictates or vigorously negotiates contract terms; or inspects production facilities.

Question 15

In general, what is stream of commerce?

Answer 15

When a business other than the manufacturer puts a product into the state. There is no direct relationship between the manufacturer in state A and the customer in state C.

Manufacturer → Distributor → Customer
State A State B State C

Question 16

Describe Stream of Commerce Plain

Answer 16

If the manufacturer reasonably anticipates/knows their product will end up in the forum, that’s enough to satisfy MC.
Just targeting the region is enough.

Question 17

Describe Stream of Commerce Plus

Answer 17

Placing the product in SoC (without more) is not enough. The defendant must purposefully avail himself to the forum via ads, service channels, modifying the product for sale in a particular forum, or business development in the state.

Question 18

What will an intentional tort fact pattern look like?

Answer 18

(1) The defendant knew his intentional tortious conduct would cause harm in the specific forum;
(2) They expressly aimed at/targeted the forum, AND
(3) The plaintiff felt the brunt of harm in the forum (focal point).

Question 19

To establish minimum contacts with the forum, is it enough for the defendant to just have contacts with the plaintiff?

Answer 19

No. The defendant must have contacts with the forum beyond the plaintiff just being there (Walden).

Question 20

Describe the Relatedness Test

Answer 20

Did the claim “arise from or relate to” the defendant’s contacts with the forum.

Question 21

What test do we use to figure out the relatedness between a claim and the defendant’s contact with the forum?

Answer 21

“In the Wake of” Test

Question 22

What is the “in the wake of” test?

Answer 22

“Would we expect the claims/injuries to have happened to the victim in the wake of the defendant’s forum activities?”

“Is there some substantial connection between the defendant’s contacts in the state and the plaintiff’s claim?”

Question 23

For relatedness, does the defendant’s contact/conduct have to proximately cause the plaintiff’s injury?

Answer 23

No (Ford)

Question 24

Define Reasonableness

Answer 24

Would asserting PJ offend notions of fair play and substantial justice?

Question 25

What are the factors for reasonableness?

Answer 25

(1) Defendant’s Burden
(2) Forum State’s Interest
(3) Plaintiff’s Interest in Obtaining Effective/Convenient Relief
(4) Judicial Efficiency (Where is the Evidence)
(5) State’s Shared/Competing Interests

Question 26

What must a defendant do to escape PJ?

Answer 26

The defendant must make a compelling case for unreasonableness to defeat PJ.

Question 27

Could a defendant who says that another forum is more reasonable enough escape PJ?

Answer 27

No, they must make a compelling case why litigating in the current forum is constitutionally unreasonable.

Question 28

What happens if exercising PJ turns out to be super reasonable?

Answer 28

If exercising PJ turns out to be super reasonable, less minimum contacts are needed between the defendant and the forum (Burger King).