I. Jurisdiction
A. Personal Jurisdiction – three types (constitutionally driven and case law driven)
1. in personam if valid it is enforceable in any sister state (full faith and credit of the constitution). If in personam the judgment is against the person and his estate (i.e., assets)
2. in rem jurisdiction – jurisdiction in the thing – jurisdiction not over people but over property usually real estate or boats. Attaching property in advance, It must be done at the commencement of the case
3. quasi-in –rem – attach property to draw person into the forum ( has been very contracted by Supreme Court Decisions)
B. Notice – is required by the constitution so you can appear and defend yourself (constitution based)
C. Service (rule based)
D. Venue – determines which courthouse
E. Transfer – transferring from the correct courthouse.
1. Only exists in federal courts
2. States can’t transfer cases to other states (can only dismiss cases)
3. Federal courts can transfer if it is for justice or the convenience of the parties)
F. Forum non conveniens (TEST QUESTION) – transfer form a US Federal Court to another country. Allows court to dismiss the case and transfer if to another country
G. Subject Matter Jurisdiction – can I get into federal courts or not? The rules are all statutory
1. Federal Question – issue dealing with constitution, federal statute, or federal rule – can be filed in a state court
a) Admiralty, patents, copy rights, trademarks are exclusively federal
b) All federal jurisdictions (except those that are exclusive) are concurrent jurisdictions (can be heard in federal or state court)
2. Diversity of Citizenship – getting into federal court on a case that would otherwise be a state case except the parties are from different stated and case must be a certain dollar value. Felt that state court would help the party that was the state’s resident and federal court would be more neutral. Can also be between US citizens and citizens of another country (aliens). Diversity is available if you sue an alien.
a) Need complete diversity or nothing at all
3. Removal – only defendant can remove a case from state court to federal court (plaintiff got to choose where to file)
4. Supplemental jurisdiction – supplement federal question and diversity of citizenship with what would otherwise be a state case by attaching it to the federal case
5. Venue – determines which courthouse you file at (this and service of process is boring)
II. Personal jurisdiction – Pennoyer v. Neff
A. Pennoyer bases its de
so as to make the act applicable only when the court rendering the judgment had jurisdiction over the parties and of the subject matter BECAUSE we don’t want sister states rubber stamping inappropriate actions without jurisdiction. Therefore, sister states can bail if the jurisdiction is not valid
9. Pennoyer says that due process for court proceedings means the court must have personal and subject matter jurisdiction
a) Subject Matter Jurisdiction (SMJ) isn’t a problem for the states, but personal jurisdiction is a problem and can only get personal jurisdiction by:
(1) Notice by service
(2) Consent (voluntary appearance)
10. The result is that if you sue someone in Texas but all his $$ are in New York, you can enforce the Texas judgment in New York as long as there is valid personal and subject matter jurisdiction
Transient presence – serving people in airport is viewed as the most despicable thing that US does by foreign countries; however, even if judgment is entered you can only get the $$ if the foreigner has $$ in the US
