Civil Procedure Outline
Professor Howard Stravitz
Spring 2014
US Constitution
Article 3, Section I Ordain and Establish clause :
The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services, a Compensation, which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office.
Article 3, Section II Jurisdiction of the federal courts
The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Authority;–to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls;–to all Cases of admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction;–to Controversies to which the United States shall be a Party;–to Controversies between two or more States;–between a State and Citizens of another State;–between Citizens of different States;–between Citizens of the same State claiming Lands under Grants of different States, and between a State, or the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects.
Personal Jurisdiction
For personal jurisdiction, THERE IS NO RULE! You just must show an analysis (for every defendant) under the different tests the Court has given over the years.
1) Personal jurisdiction:
a) the power of a court to enter judgment against a specific defendant.
b) You can consent to personal jurisdiction, but you can’t consent to subject matter jurisdiction
2) Traditional basis for personal jurisdiction.
a) There are 3 traditional ways to establish personal jurisdiction (GOOD M.C. QUESTION)
i) In rem- the court has power over the property in its states
(1) You can’t re-litigate a case that has been decided under in rem (the rest of the world is bound by the decision)
(2) Only involves the value of the property attached
(3) For a proper in rem proceeding, property must be attached when the case is commenced
ii) Quasi in rem- you attach property to a person to establish jurisdiction
(1) Where the property generally is not directly involved in the underlying lawsuit (i.e. attaching Hilton Head house in Seattle lawsuit)
(2) Only binds people in the court
iii) In personam- court has power over people present within it’s state
(1) Applies to all assets of the individual who the judgment is against
iv) In personam is discussed in Pennoyer v. Neff. Pennoyer is not really relevant anymore though, because now people are more mobile and come and go more frequently. Three ways to consent to personal jurisdiction per Pennoyer: (possible MC question)
(1) Found within the territory of state and served with process in that state
(2) Voluntary appearance (Consent)
(3) If you are a citizen of the state, you may be called back to defend
3) Modern Basis:
a) In modern day, there are two types of personal jurisdiction
i) specific– Plaintiff’s cause of action arises out of defendant’s activity in the forum state (i.e. SC driver at fault in NC and sued in NC)
ii) general–See Heading 8 (if the defendant enjoys the benefits of the forum state in connection with the activity, then he is subject to personal jurisdiction.) Plaintiff’s cause of action does not arise out of defendant’s activity in forum state. Defendant must be “essentially at home” in the state. (i.e. SC driver at fault in NC and sued in SC)
4) Process of establishing personal jurisdiction (specific). Analyze:
a) Does the state authorize jurisdiction through a long arm statute?
b) If yes (answer will usually be yes), then test to make sure the statute does not exceed the 14th Amendment’s due process clause. This test has two branches. (two branches serve to make sure statute is constitutional)
(1) The FIRST branch of the test is to make sure it meets due process using the minimum contacts test from International Shoe.
(a) Defendant needs minimum contacts with the state plus a claim related to those minimum contacts.
(b) Examples
(i) Purposefully directing activities
1. Activity must be systematic and continuous and the cause of action must arise out of that activity
(ii) Invoking the protections of the laws
1. If a defendant who is not a citizen of the forum state, invoked the benefits and protection of the forum state law, they have minimum contacts are are subject to specific jurisdiction.
(2) Modern courts then added the SECOND branch. The second branch looks at fair play and substantial justice. (Examples):
(a) State Interests in litigating the claim
(i) State has an interest in protecting their citizens/businesses
(b) Sovereign Interests (interests of the several states)
(c) Plaintiff’s Interests
(d) Litigation Convenience Factors
5) Different cases you can apply for different scenarios
a) World Wide Volkswagen—
i) jurisdiction based on a commercial contract
ii) Holding: No specific personal jurisdiction for VW.
iii) Foreseeability alone is not the test! (not enough to establish minimum contacts)
iv) 2 factors to establish domicile: (1) mental-you intend to make it your permanent home; and (2) physical-must actually establish it. (In this case, the Robinsons hadn’t met the physical aspect yet, so they were still citizens of NY)
v) Gives a number of factors to look at on top of page 64, but focuses on a corporation “purposely availing itself”
(1) The Forum state’s interests in adjudicating the dispute
(2) Plaintiffs interest in obtaining convenient and effective relief
(3) The interstate judicial system’s interest in obtaining the most efficient resolution of controversies and
(4) the shared interests of the several states in furthering fundamental substantive social policies
(5) The NY auto dealer had not purposefully availed itself of the opportunity to conduct activities in OK although it could foresee that the buyers might take it’s cars there (hadn’t sold cars the
state.
(2) Justice Breyer’s concurrence
(a) Says precedent is unclear
(b) Concerned about modern method of distribution
(c) But that single sale is never enough
v) Plurality and 2 concurring judges do not even talk about Fair Play and Substantial Justice because no minimum contacts, so no need to go on.
vi) Takeaway—basically allows a foreign manufacturer to avoid US jurisdiction by using a distributor, not targeting any states. STREAM OF COMMERCE MAY NOT BE ENOUGH!
**See example questions from handout**
Other Aspects of Personal Jurisdiction
1) General jurisdiction:
a) Jurisdiction over any claim, even if unrelated to the cause of action (note: specific jurisdiction must be related to the cause of action). General jurisdiction does not arise out of the defendant’s activity in the forum state.
b) An easy example is your domicile (for individuals). But it gets harder for businesses. For small businesses, probably everything happens in one state. But what about for large businesses?
c) Rule: Courts look for a systematic and continuous relationship (Perkins v. Benguet).
i) Mere purchases in the state are not enough–Helicopteros (In this case, the cause of action did not arise out of activity in Texas, but it was related to activity in Texas)
d) Goodyear Dunlop established additional requirement that for general jurisdiction, there must be enough of a continuous and systematic relationship that the defendant is “essentially at home.” Very hard test to apply! (this case takes continuous and systematic one step further)
i) Must be so systematic and continuous as to render them essentially at home in the forum state (in this case, the activity was systematic and continuous, but not a substantial part of their business; none of this particular type of tire ended up in NC although a few other tires did)
e) Application on exam—For example, a very plausible fact pattern would have a person, Paul Plaintiff, wanting to sue a business, XYZ Corporation, for selling a faulty product. There will be a whole bunch of facts about XYZ’s activities, what it sold, where it is located, etc. (probably a lot of facts indicating activity all over) The fact pattern would say something like “Paul Plaintiff files suit in South Carolina. As XYZ’s attorney, what would you do in defending XYZ?”
f) If you have general jurisdiction, you’re always going to have specific jurisdiction. If you have specific jurisdiction, you may not have general jurisdiction.
