Civil Procedure Outline
Jurisdiction Over The Parties or Their Property
I. The Traditional Basis for Jurisdiction
A. Pennoyer v. Neff (1877) Power Theory
1. Rule: Every state possesses exclusive jurisdiction and sovereignty over persons and property within its territory; therefore, the courts of that state may enter a binding judgment against a non-resident only if he is personally served with process while within the state, or, if he has property within the state, if that property is attached before litigation begins
a. Full Faith and Credit
2. Reasoning: In a Quasi In Rem action such as this, you must attach land at the beginning of the lawsuit, usually on the same day you file, because you need to establish jurisdiction before the suit can go on.
3. Types of Jurisdiction
a. Quasi In Rem – This action is against the land in order to establish jurisdiction and to have something to recover, but it pertains to something other than the land, like lawyer’s fees
b. In Rem – This action is against the actual property, real or personal, and is solely about who has ownership over that property.
i. Both QIR and IR actions have limited award amounts, the limit being the land itself, of the value of it.
c. In Personam – This action is against the person and the awards are not limited, and the judgment can be enforced anywhere that the person has property.
4. Ways to Get Jurisdiction
a. Residence – The person is a citizen of the forum state. This is IP and the reason is that if you are a citizen of that state you get receive benefits from that state, so it is legitimate for a citizen to accept liability in that state
b. Location – The person is in the state at the time that he is personally served. This is IP and the reason is that the state has power over people in that state and that person is subject to the rules of that state.
c. Property – The property inside the state is attached by posting. This is IR or QIR because courts are sovereign over land in their state and because if a person has land in that state, the lands is subject to the laws of that state and the owner should know when his land has been attached.
d. Consent – implied (Hess) and explicit (Kane)
5. The Role of the Constitution in Establishing Jurisdiction
a. Full Faith and Credit Clause – “Full faith and credit shall be given in each state to the public acts, records and judicial precedings of every other state”. Once congress authenticates such acts, records, and precedings, “they should have such faith and credit given to them in every court within in United States as they have by law, or usage, in the courts of the state from which they are or shall be taken”. (Quote from the Constitution)
b. 14th Amendment – Due Process – “Precedings in a court of justice to determine the personal rights and obligations of parties over whom that court has no jurisdiction do not constitute due process of law” (Quote from Civ Pro book, p. 66)
B. Blackmer v. United States (1932) – Supreme Court concluded that no violation of due process had taken place when notice was given to an American citizen in a foreign country of the requirement of his government that he shall return. The court can assert jurisdiction over a citizen who is absent from the jurisdiction.
C. Milliken v. Meyer (1940) – “Domicile in the state is alone sufficient to bring an absent defendant within the reach of the state’s jurisdiction for purposes of a personal judgment by means of appropriate substituted service…The state which accords him privileges and affords protection to him and his property by virtue of his domicile may also exact reciprocal duties.” “The authority of a state over one of its citizens is not terminated by the mere fact of his absence from the state.” (Quote from Civ Pro book, p. 70) The court does not distinguish bet
A New Theory of Jurisdiction
A. Jurisdiction over Corporations
1. Corporations are fictions that exist only on paper and that act through its employees, directors, and shareholders.
2. The courts first developed the “consent” theory, which presupposes that a foreign corporation could transact business in a state only with that state’s consent.
3. Then, “Presence” theory: “A foreign corporation is amenable to process if it is doing business within the State in such manner and to such extent as to warrant the inference that is it present there.”
4. “Doing Business” Gradually became the test in of itself
B. International Shoe Co. v. Washington (1945) Specific Jurisdiction- MC
1. Rule: A corporation will be subject to the jurisdiction of any state with which it has “minimum contacts” that make the exercise of jurisdiction consistent with “traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice”. (Sufficiency Test)
a. Implied consent now based on MCs
b. Quality of contact not quantity
Reasoning: State has jurisdiction based on location. First, location is presence in general, asking whether or not corporation does a fair amount of business in the state. “Minimum contacts” with the forum state is sufficient to sue corporation so long as it is “fair and reasonable”. Second, presence at the time of the tort, asking whether or not the corporation was receiving privileges and benefits from the forum state at the time of the tort. Corporation receiving benefits from laws of forum state should be subject to that state’s jurisdiction.
