Subject Matter Jurisdiction Paragraph

Question 1

SMJ refers to the ability of…

Answer 1

a federal court to hear specific types of cases dependent on the subject matter of the action

Question 2

SMJ tests apply equally in both state and federal courts…

Answer 2

in both state and federal courts

Question 3

Federal and state courts often have concurrent…

Answer 3

jurisdiction…

Question 4

States courts have broad-scope general jurisdiction

Answer 4

whereas federal courts often have limited jurisdication under statutes enacted by congress

Question 5

SMJ tests apply equally to all

Answer 5

federal courts in any state

Question 6

For SMJ to exist in a federal court, there must be either a

Answer 6

Federal question on the face of the well-pleaded complaint §1331 (Mottley), or the case meets the requirements of §1332 for DOC & AIC

Question 7

To satisfy DOC, we must analyze

Answer 7

the citizenship of all parties.

Question 8

While the Constitution requires minimal DOC, but

Answer 8

SCOTUS requires complete DOC (Strawbridge)

Question 9

All P’s and D’s must hold different citizenship… meaning…

Answer 9

No P’s can be from the state as any D’s.

Question 10

The citizenship of the parties at the time of the filing is what is evaludated, even if one or more….

Answer 10

of the parties relocated to the same stare as other parties after filing

Question 11

Citizenship of an individual refers to the place of domicile of the parties which is evaluated by…

Answer 11

by where they reside (Gordon) with the intent to stay indefinitely (Milikin)

Question 12

A new citizenship… cannot be established until a person has….

Answer 12

satisfied both where they reisde (Gordon) with the intent to stay indefinitely (Milikin)

Question 13

§1332(c) permits that a

Answer 13

corporation and their principal place of business (PPOB) (Hertz)

Question 14

To Satisfy AIC, §1332(a) requires that the complaint

Answer 14

must exceed damages of $75k.

Question 15

AIC helps the court’s efficiency by

Answer 15

avoiding frivolous cases

Question 16

The amount must be proven to a legal certainty by

Answer 16

the plaintiff

Question 17

If not proven,

Answer 17

the D can challenge the action’s validity (Diefenthal)

Question 18

Punitive and/or emotional distress damages which are not enumerated can be

Answer 18

included in the 75k threshold if they can be proven to a level legal certainty to exceed that amount

Question 19

A single P may aggregate related or unrelated claims against a single D to meet the AIC requirement, but

Answer 19

They may not do this against multiple D’s UNLESS the D’s are jointly liable