Personal Jurisdiction; Venue

Question 0

FRCP 12(B) - Defendant’s challenge of personal jurisdiction

Answer 0

For a defendant to challenge a court’s exercise of personal jurisdiction over him he must do so in the pre-answer motions or the answer itself, provided that it is objected to in defendant’s first response.
Must do so: improper venue; improper service of process.

–> motion to dismiss based on lack of subject matter jurisdiction at any time. A federal court must dismiss an action whenever it determines that it lacks subject matter jurisdiction.

Question 1

Personal Jurisdiction

Answer 1

A state’s federal court has personal jurisdiction over citizens of that state (general jdx.) for any claims against them.

Residence = continuous pervasive contact.

Question 2

Venue

Answer 2

Venue is proper where the defendant resides (if all reside in the same state) and where a substantial part of the event giving rise to the claim occurs.

Question 3

Doctrine of Forum Non Conveniens

Answer 3

Court has discretion to dismiss an action if it believes that it is an inconvenient forum for the action to be litigated. Better option available.