Personal Jurisdiction Flashcards
To enter a valid judgment, a court must have power over…
the parties.
Personal jurisdiction analysis is the same in…
federal and state court. So whether a federal court in State X has PJ over D is assessed exactly the same way as whether a
state court in State X would have PJ. No difference.
The court automatically has power over the _________, because she invoked jurisdiction.
plaintiff
Whether there’s PJ is a two-step process:
- Satsify a Virginia statute
- Satisfy the constitution (DPC)
do DPC, then VA statute
To satisfy the Virginia long-arm statute, the claim must arise when the defendant does one of the following things in Virginia:
-
PJ
-
Statutory Analysis
- Long-arm statute: Contracts (goods sold in state)
-
Statutory Analysis
If D conducts business in VA, or sells goods or services into the state, Court will have PJ so long as claim(s) arises from D’s contacts w/ the state.
have even just one business contact in Virginia. So if the defendant signs a contract in Virginia, he is subject to PJ.
(this is called a “single transaction” state)
a key distinction: sold outside of state means literally sold outside of state, not into.
To satisfy the Virginia long-arm statute, the claim must arise when the defendant does one of the following things in Virginia:
-
PJ
-
Statutory Analysis
- Long-arm statute: Contracts (goods sold out of state)
-
Statutory Analysis
If D sells a product outside of VA covered by an explicit or implied warranty and the product causes injury in VA, the D will be subject to PJ if:
1. the D could reasonably expect that the product will be used in VA; and
2. the D conducts regular business in VA or derives substantial revenue from VA
To satisfy the Virginia long-arm statute, the claim must arise when the defendant does one of the following things in Virginia:
-
PJ
-
Statutory Analysis
- **Long-arm statute: Tort (inside VA)
-
Statutory Analysis
D acts in VA and causes injury in VA. PJ over that claim.
To satisfy the Virginia long-arm statute, the claim must arise when the defendant does one of the following things in Virginia:
-
PJ
-
Statutory Analysis
- **Long-arm statute: Tort (outside VA)
-
Statutory Analysis
- Commit a tortious act (or omission arising to a tortious act) outiside the state,
- for which the plaintiff’s injury occurs in Virginia, and
- the defendant:
- regularly does or solicits business in Virginia, or
- (engages in any other persistent course of conduct from which it derives substantial revenue from goods used in Virginia)
Virginia’s
-
PJ
-
Statutory Analysis
- Long-arm statute: Property-based contacts
-
Statutory Analysis
- Has to be land, i.e. real property
- The nonresident defendant need not own the land, he just has to use it, possess it, or have an interest in it.
- WATCH OUT FOR THIS!
“Having an interest in, using, or possessing real property in this Commonwealth”
-
PJ
- Statutory Analysis
Long-arm statute: Family-based contacts**
- Divorce: if the matrimonial domicile was in VA, VA has PJ to adjudicate a divorce
- Support action: if a D is obligated to pay support (spousal or child) to a VA resident, VA has PJ to enforce the obligation
What is the constitutional standard test for personal jurisdiction?
Does defendant have “such minimum contacts with the forum so that jurisdiction does not offend traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice?”
Where else may a corporation be deemed to be “at home”?
every state in which the company’s activity is so systematic and continuous that the company is at home in the forum.
Besides domicile
How does one determine the fairness factor?
-
PJ
- Statutory Analysis
- In-personam statute
- Long-arm statute
- NRMA
-
Constitutional Analysis
-
Minimum Contacts
- Contact
- Purposeful Availment
- Foreseeability
- Relatedness
- General Relatedness
- Specific Relatedness
- Fairness
- Contact
-
Minimum Contacts
- Statutory Analysis
- Burden on D and witnesses.
- Even if the forum is not convenient for D, the forum is OK unless it puts her at a severe disadvantage in the litigation. (very difficult burden. wealth of the parties is not determinative).
- State’s interest
- (The forum state may want to provide a courtroom for its citizens, who are allegedly being harmed by out-of-staters.)
- Plaintiff’s interest
- Plaintiff may be injured and wants to sue at home.
Note on nomenclature
What does it mean to be “subject to service of process?” Break down the components
It means that the court has PJ.
* Service: the act of delivering the summons and complaint to the D
* Subject to: amenable to the court’s authority
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