Jurisdiction and Venue - Subject Matter Jx Flashcards
(36 cards)
As to the amount-in-controversy requirement, will court accept amount quoted in the complaint?
YES, unless the allegation was made in bad faith or it appears to a legal certainty that the plaintiff cannot recover that amount.
For purposes of citizenship, a corporation’s principal place of business is
the corporation’s “nerve center” (i.e., “the place where a corporation’s officers direct, control, and coordinate the corporation’s activities”).
Ordinarily, this will be “the place where the corporation maintains its headquarters,” unless the facts indicate that the corporation’s designated “headquarters” is not really its “nerve center” but is simply an office for occasional meetings.
Supplemental Jx will exist if the claim
if it is part of the same constitutional “case or controversy” as the woman’s discrimination claim against MedForms.
Claims form part of the same case or controversy if they arise out of a common nucleus of operative facts.
Supplemental Jx = same case or controversy = arise out of common nucleus of operative facts
To decide a case before it, a federal court must have
A federal court MUST have SMJ in order to decide cases before it.
SMJ = FEDERAL QUESTION OR DIVERSITY
A federal court has SMJ under federal question jurisdiction if
the complaint alleges a claim that arises under federal law.
Well-Pleaded Complaint Rule. The federal question MUST be presented
on the face of the plaintiff’s complaint. Raising a defense or filing a counterclaim under federal law does NOT trigger federal question jurisdiction.
A federal court has SMJ under diversity jurisdiction if:
Complete Diversity is present – every citizenship represented on the plaintiff’s
side of the case must be different than EVERY citizenship represented on the D’s side of the case
AND
The amount in controversy (AIC) exceeds $75,000.
As to complete diversity for Div Jx, can two P’s or two D’s be from same state?
YES. But no D can be same as P in citizenship.
As to AIC, A claim for injunctive relief may be
valued by the benefit to the plaintiff or the cost of compliance for the defendant.
As to AIC, One plaintiff can
aggregate all of her claims against one defendant to meet the AIC requirement, whether or not the claims are transactionally related.
One plaintiff can also aggregate all of her claims against multiple defendants if the defendants are jointly liable.
As to AIC, If there are multiple plaintiffs
generally, each plaintiff’s claim must meet the AIC requirement separately (unless supplemental jurisdiction applies).
A federal court does NOT have diversity jurisdiction for
probate actions and domestic relation matters (e.g., divorce, child support/custody, etc.)
The citizenship of each party to the action must be
considered in order to decide whether complete diversity is present.
The rules for determining citizenship of individuals
For individuals, citizenship is determined by the individual’s state or country of domicile (i.e., the place of residence where the individual intends to remain indefinitely). An individual can only have one domicile at a time.
The rules for determining citizenship corporations
Corporations hold dual citizenship for diversity purposes:
The state or country of incorporation;
AND
The state or country of its principal place of business (i.e., the “nerve center” – usually where corporate headquarters are located).
The rules for determining citizenship unincorporated associations
Unincorporated associations and partnerships (e.g., unions, trade associations, partnerships, and limited partnerships) are considered a citizen of every state of which its members are citizens.
The rules for determining citizenship class actions
For class actions, the citizenship of each named party in the class who are suing count for diversity purposes.
Class members that are not named may join without regard to citizenship.
Supplemental jurisdiction
allows a federal court with valid SMJ over a case to hear additional claims over which the court would NOT independently have jurisdiction if ALL the claims constitute the same case or controversy.
NOTE: there are exclusions when anchor claim based in diversity (P cannot sue 3P D through supp Jx if inital claim is in diversity Jx)
Claims constitute the “same case or controversy” if
they arise out of a common nucleus of operative fact (meaning all the claims arise out of the same transaction or occurrence).
Supplemental Jx for Federal Question Cases.
A federal court sitting in federal question jurisdiction may hear a pendent state law claim under supplemental jurisdiction if the state law claim arises out the same transaction or occurrence as the federal law claim.
Example of Supplemental Jx for Federal Question Cases.
P sues D for copyright infringement (federal law) and breach of contract (state law). A federal court may hear the breach of contract claim IF the breach arose out of the same transaction or occurrence as the copyright infringement claim. This holds true if the state and federal claims are spread out against multiple defendants (called “pendent party” jurisdiction – P can sue D1 for CR infringement and D2 for breach of K if same transaction/occurrence as CR claim)
When P sues D in federal court based on diversity Jx, and D cross claims 3p, can P sue 3p using supplemental Jx?
No. Cannot use supp Jx, but could bring claim if had other SMJx grounds.
When the anchor claim is grounded in diversity jurisdiction, federal law withholds supplemental jurisdiction over any claim “ .. . by plaintiffs against persons made parties under Rule 14, 19, 20, or 24 of the Federal Rules
three types of claims where supplemental jurisdiction is commonly tested in diversity cases:
Compulsory Counterclaims
Permissive Counterclaims
Cross-claims
Compulsory Counterclaims and Supp Jx
A compulsory counterclaim is a counterclaim (usually the defendant countersuing the plaintiff) that arises out of the same transaction or occurrence as the original claim filed. A federal court sitting in diversity jurisdiction has supplemental jurisdiction over a compulsory counterclaim.
