Pg 4

Question 1

What are the four major permutations regarding specific jurisdiction?

Answer 1

– Continuous contacts and CONNECTED COA: PJ (always)
– Single contacts and CONNECTED COA: Rebuttable presumption of PJ
– Continuous contacts but UNCONNECTED COA: rebuttable presumption of no PJ
– Single contacts but UNCONNECTED COA: never PJ

Question 2

What are examples of when there would be continuous and systematic contacts with the forum state and a connected cause of action under minimum contacts to result in PJ?

Answer 2

Regular sales by the defendants or their representatives, distribution of a product or service in the state, advertising in the state, etc.

Question 3

What are examples of when there would be single or occasional contacts and a connected cause of action that would create a rebuttable presumption of personal jurisdiction if the nature and quality of the contacts sufficiently arose out of the defendant’s forum contacts?

Answer 3

Tort actions, contract formation, isolated annual trip to the state to make purchases, etc.

Question 4

What are examples of times that there would be continuous or systematic contacts with a state, but an unconnected cause of action to create a rebuttable presumption of no personal jurisdiction unless the contacts were so substantial that the jurisdiction would be justified because the defendant is said to be doing business in the forum state as if he was a citizen there?

Answer 4

Incorporation, licensed to do business, substantial operations in the state

Question 5

What would be an example of a single or occasional contact with the forum state and an unconnected cause of action which creates an unrebuttable presumption that there is not personal jurisdiction?

Answer 5

Unilateral acts by the plaintiff

Question 6

What is transient jurisdiction?

Answer 6

When an individual defendant is served in the form state when he is temporarily present there

Question 7

Is it possible to get jurisdiction over a corporation that doesn’t regularly do business in the state by serving an agent of the corporation while the agent is in the state?

Answer 7

No. You can only get jurisdiction over people through physical presence if it is an individual, not a corporation. The corporation is not considered to be in the state just because someone who works for the corporation is in the state

Question 8

What is purposeful availment with relation to minimum contacts for personal jurisdiction?

Answer 8

The defendant purposely avails himself of activities in the forum state to invoke benefits or protections of its laws

Question 9

What is necessary for someone to be considered to have purposefully availed himself of the benefits of a forum state for personal jurisdiction?

Answer 9

The defendant’s actions must have direct effects in the form state, even if he never entered. I.e.: defamatory article published in that state

Question 10

What are things that are considered in order to determine that someone has purposefully availed themselves of the benefits of a forum state in order for personal jurisdiction to apply?

Answer 10

• if his actions had a direct effect in the form state
  – the extent of his commercial activities and the nature and quality of his contacts
  – the convenience or burden on the defendant
  – the relatedness of the defendant’s activities to the suit
  – whether he enjoyed the benefits of the laws of the forum state

Question 11

What are things that would be included to determine purposeful availment with regard to whether a D enjoyed the benefits of the laws of a forum state?

Answer 11

• if he did business there then he enjoyed the protections of the laws and is obligated to respond to a suit there
  – if he drove in the state then he used the roads and that subjected others to serious risks, so any accident would support jurisdiction

Question 12

Where do torts happen?

Answer 12

Where the effect is felt

Question 13

With regard to injuries from a tort, does jurisdiction apply even if the injury happens in the state but the negligence happened somewhere else?

Answer 13

Yes

Question 14

What is the timeframe for when minimum contacts apply for personal jurisdiction?

Answer 14

At the time that the defendant acted, not the time of suit

Question 15

If you had clients in Michigan, but you don’t anymore, can you be sued in Michigan for the contact that you had with your old clients?

Answer 15

Yes, because the timing for minimum contacts to apply is the time that you acted, not the time of suit

Question 16

If the defendant called a New York producer from California (where the D lived) and defamed the plaintiff, did the act happen in New York where the words were heard or in California where the words were spoken?

Answer 16

There’s a split in the courts about this, so mention both

Question 17

If you advertise in a foreign state, does that necessarily mean that you purposely availed yourself of the benefits of that state for minimum contacts for personal jurisdiction?

Answer 17

Yes. You reached into that state to solicit business and that was a deliberate effort to serve the market. The amount of advertising does not matter.

Question 18

If a company has sales people, who is the defendant to determine personal jurisdiction, is it the salesperson or the company?

Answer 18

The company or the dealership

Question 19

What do you need to consider when deciding if advertising in a forum state constitutes purposeful availment for personal jurisdiction?

Answer 19

Totality of the circumstances. Some jurisdictions say that deliberate contacts exist when you ship even one item into a forum

Question 20

When you sell things on eBay is that considered to be purposeful availment of the forum state?

Answer 20

No, because this is just a one shot sale

Question 21

If a website specifically intends interaction with residents of a forum, is that considered to be purposeful availment for personal jurisdiction?

Answer 21

Yes although most passive advertising does not create personal jurisdiction

Question 22

What is the zippo sliding scale and when does it apply?

Answer 22

If a defendant enters contracts with state residents with the knowing or repeated transmission of files over the internet, then he has personal jurisdiction in that state.

But just passively providing info does not give personal jurisdiction.

Interactive sites that involve user exchanges of information with the host and collect information are considered to be middle ground gray areas where you have to examine the level of interactivity and the commercial nature of the exchange of the information to determine whether a person has personal jurisdiction in that state

Question 23

For foreign manufacturers that make products abroad and sell them to someone who then sells them to the state, does that result in personal jurisdiction over the foreign manufacture?

Answer 23

No.

Question 24

If a foreign manufacturer made a product abroad, sold it to one state, and that state sold it to another state where injury happens, would there be personal jurisdiction?

Answer 24

No because the manufacturer did not sell to the state of injury. The same would be true if the product was made in the United States

Question 25

For manufacturers of goods, where does a manufacturer have personal jurisdiction?

Answer 25

In the state that the company sold the goods to

Question 26

If there are multiple defendants that are liable for some product, such as the manufacturer, the person who assembled it, the distributor, the seller, etc. and they are all in different parts of the country and they don’t actually know where the product eventually ends up, what does the stream of commerce argument say with regard to purposeful availment for personal jurisdiction?

Answer 26

Putting a product in the stream of commerce that will likely end up in the forum state is not enough for jurisdiction without information about where the product will end up in purposeful availment. Just having a product be put in the stream of commerce is not enough, you need stream of commerce plus in order to get jurisdiction

Question 27

If a product is put in a forum with effort by the defendant to direct it to that state through something like advertising, a special product for that market, sending substantial quantities of it, etc., would that be enough for stream of commerce argument to get personal jurisdiction?

Answer 27

Yes

Question 28

If you know that the stream of commerce could sweep goods into a state, is that considered to be purposeful availment in order to get personal jurisdiction?

Answer 28

No, the defendant must want to serve that market

Question 29

If you sell a car in one state and the buyer drives it to another state and is injured in that other state, do you have personal jurisdiction in that other state because of purposeful availment?

Answer 29

No, because while it is foreseeable to the car will be driven into another state, the seller wouldn’t expect to be held into court in that other state since he didn’t sell the car there, advertise, solicit, or focus on that market

Question 30

If a seller calls you in your home state and convinces you to buy a car, would that be enough for personal jurisdiction?

Answer 30

Yes because of the purposeful contact

Question 31

What are forum selection clauses?

Answer 31

Contract clauses that require all suits be filed in a certain court or state. These are prima facie valid and enforced if they are fairly communicated to both parties and not unreasonable.

Question 32

In the American radiator case where a water heater exploded and the heater was made everywhere, was it proper for there to be personal jurisdiction in Illinois?

Answer 32

Yes

Question 33

In the Burger King case that had franchises in Michigan and headquarters in Florida, was Florida a proper state for personal jurisdiction?

Answer 33

Yes

Question 34

In the Worldwide Volkswagen case where the person drove a car in Oklahoma but bought the car in New York, was that enough for Oklahoma to have jurisdiction over the dealership?

Answer 34

No