Subject Matter Jurisdiction Flashcards
Define: Concurrent Jurisdiction
Jurisdiction that might be exercised simultaneously by more than one court over the same subject matter and within the same territory.
Define: The Well Pleaded Complaint Rule
A sufficiently claimed and pleaded complaint which must raise a controlling issue of federal law, or else the court will have no federal jurisdiction.
Define: Complete Jurisdiction
In a multiparty case, diversity between both sides to the lawsuit so that all plaintiffs have different citizenship from all defendant. Complete diversity must exist for a federal court to have diversity jurisdiction.
Grable v. Darue 3 part test for if a state law claim contains a federal issue that would arise under federal jurisdiction?
1) Does it necessarily raise a federal issue?
2) Is the issue actually disputed and substantial?
3) And a federal forum may entertain without disturbing any constitutionally approved balance of federal and state powers.
3 requirements of a plaintiffs claim to fall into federal jurisdiction for Federal question (different from Grable v. Darue):
1) Federal question must be in P’s original claim - cannot be an anticipated defense.
2) Federal law creates the claim - “a suit arises under the law that creates the cause of action.”
3) Non-federal claims that turn on construction of federal law, if the P’s right to recover depends on the substantial question of federal law.
What are the two requirements for diversity jurisdiction?
1) $75,000 minimum in dispute
2) Controversy between one of the following:
a) Citizen of one state . citizen of a 2nd state
b) Citizen v. foreigner
c) Citizen + foreigner v. citizen
d) Citizen v. Citizen + foreigner
e) Citizen + foreigner v. Citizen + foreigner
What is required for an individual to be a “citizen” for purposes of diversity jurisdiction?
A person must be domiciled within that state to be a citizen.
What are the requirements for domicile?
1) Presence in a location (residence) - To establish requires an address or a PO box, just something to show that person is residing there and currently intends to stay.
2) Intent to remain there indefinitely - to establish requires an examination of the conduct of the person and determine if they are planning things in the future which shows an intent to stay.
What is the difference between residence and domicile?
You can have more than one residence (summer home, lake house, etc.) but you can only have one domicile.
Where are corporations domiciled?
Two places:
1) Place of incorporation
2) Principle Place of business (nerve center approach)
Where are partnerships and labor unions domiciled?
Partnerships: when suing a partnership, you are suing each individual partner so each individual partners domicile must be considered. This is because a partnership is a collection of individuals. (Remember to consider “complete diversity” if considering a case of this)
Labor unions are the same way.
When must citizenship be considered?
At the time of filing.
May a Plaintiff aggregate the amount sought as relief for different claims to reach the $75,000 dollar minimum?
Sometimes. The guidelines are as follows:
1) A single plaintiff with two or more unrelated claims against a single defendant MAY aggregate.
2) Two plaintiff with claims against a single defendant MAY NOT aggregate.
3) In one plaintiff has reached the required $75,000 minimum and the other has not, they MAY BOTH invoke federal diversity if their claims are related.
4) When there is multiple plaintiffs or multiple defendants with a common undivided interest and a single title or right, the value of the total interest involved will be the value used.
5) Class Action suits: aggregating the claims of all the class members CANNOT BE USED to reach the amount.
Does a counter claim need to reach the statutory minimum requirement ($75,000) to be brought in federal court?
If a plaintiff’s claim exceeds the limit then the counter claim will be allowed regardless of the amount. But it is undecided whether the counter claim must meet the requirement when the original claim does not.
