Personal Jurisdiction

Hawkins v. Master’s Farms, Inc.

Instant Facts: Hawkins (P), on behalf of the estate of James Creal, sued the defendants in Kansas federal court
alleging diversity of citizenship.
Black Letter Rule: A party’s domicile is that place in which the party has established a physical presence with
the intent to remain there.

Pennoyer v. Neff

Instant Facts: Neff (P) sought to recover possession of land which had been seized and sold to pay off a default
judgment against him, claiming that the judgment was invalid, as the court involved had not had personal
jurisdiction over him.
Black Letter 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.

International Shoe Co. v. Washington

Instant Facts: A shoe company with salesmen in Washington State claimed not to be subject to Washington’s
jurisdiction when the state tried to collect unemployment taxes.
Black Letter 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.”

McGee v. International Life Insurance Co.

Instant Facts: McGee (P), the beneficiary of a life insurance policy held by International Life (D), a Texas
company, brought suit in California when International Life (D) refused to pay.
Black Letter Rule: A state may exercise jurisdiction over a defendant whose contacts with that state consist of
only a single act, provided that that act is what gave rise to the claim for which jurisdiction is being sought and
was deliberately directed toward the state.

Hanson v. Denckla

Instant Facts: Various claimants to a Delaware trust filed suit against the trustee in Florida, claiming that the
trust was invalid under Florida law.
Black Letter Rule: A state may not exercise jurisdiction over a defendant if the defendant’s contacts with the
state are negligible and nondeliberate, and the claim does not arise from those contacts.

Shaffer v. Heitner

Instant Facts: Heitner (P) brought a shareholder’s derivative suit against several officers and directors of
Greyhound, a Delaware corporation, gaining in rem jurisdiction by attaching their stock in Greyhound.
Black Letter Rule: Minimum contacts must exist in order for in rem jurisdiction to attach.

World-Wide Volkswagen v. Woodson

Instant Facts: A New York family passing through Oklahoma was in a car accident, and tried to bring suit there
against the dealer who sold them the car in New York.
Black Letter Rule: In order to be subject to a state’s jurisdiction, a defendant must have chosen to have some
contact with that state; considerations of fairness, convenience, and the interests of the state in overseeing the
litigation are otherwise irrelevant.

J. McIntyre Machinery, Ltd. v. Nicastro

Instant Facts: Nicastro (P) sued J. McIntyre Machinery (D) in New Jersey for injuries caused by a machine
manufactured by McIntyre (D), but McIntyre (D) had no contacts with New Jersey.
Black Letter Rule: Personal jurisdiction over an out-of-state defendant requires some showing that the
defendant purposefully availed itself of the privilege of conducting activities within the state.

Goodyear Dunlop Tire Operations, S.A. v. Brown

Instant Facts: The sons of Brown (P) and Helms (P) were killed in a bus accident, allegedly because of tires
manufactured by a foreign subsidiary of Goodyear (D), and the subsidiaries (D) claimed that the state court did
not have jurisdiction.
Black Letter Rule: Sale of an out-of-state manufacturer’s products in a forum state will justify the exercise of
specific jurisdiction only with regard to the product that was sold in the state.

Daimler AG v. Bauman

Instant Facts: Bauman (P) sued Daimler (D) in federal court in California for collaboration with human rights
violations allegedly committed by its subsidiary in Argentina, and Daimler (D) moved to dismiss for lack of
personal jurisdiction.
Black Letter Rule: General personal jurisdiction is found only when a foreign corporation’s affiliations with
the forum state are so continuous and systematic as to render it essentially at home in the forum state.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. v. Superior Court

Black Letter Rule: Claim must arise out of the contacts that the ∆ has within the state. It is not sufficient for
them to have other contacts there unrelated to the claim at hand.

Ford Motor Co. v. Montana Eighth Judicial District Court

Instant Facts: Ford promoted, sold, and serviced in the state in which the plaintiff lived, even though she
bought the car in a different state, Ford is liable because of their encouragement in that state.
Black Letter Rule: Can assert specific jurisdiction even if the sale of goods did not happen in that state if the
connection between the plaintiff’s claims and defendant’s activities in those states is close enough.

Burnham v. Superior Court

Instant Facts: While visiting California for business and vacation, Dennis Burnham (D) was served with
process for a divorce proceeding, and Burnham (D) contends that California jurisdiction violates due process.
Black Letter Rule: Jurisdiction based on physical presence comports with due process, regardless of the
defendant’s contacts with the forum State.

Carnival Cruise Lines v. Schute

Instant Facts: In response to a suit for injuries occurring on one of its cruise ships, Carnival Cruise Lines (D)
argued that the forum selection clause contained on the ticket should establish jurisdiction.
Black Letter Rule: Reasonable forum selection clauses are effective in imposing jurisdiction.

Mullane v. Central Hanover Bank & Trust Co.

Instant Facts: Central Hanover Bank and Trust Company (P) petitioned for a judicial settlement of a trust and
provided notice by publication to all of the beneficiaries.
Black Letter Rule: Notice by publication fails to comply with due process where the names and addresses of
the parties are known.

Gibbons v. Brown

Instant Facts: Passenger versus passenger lawsuit where personal jurisdiction was asserted based upon non-
resident Brown (D) having filed a lawsuit in the state two years prior against a non-party driver.
Black Letter Rule: Jurisdiction over a non-resident defendant is not proper where the only contact with the
state was filing a lawsuit two years earlier against a defendant not a party to the current suit.

Thompson v. Greyhound Lines, Inc.

Instant Facts: Thompson (P) sued Greyhound (D) in the Southern District of Alabama for breach of contract
and negligence, and Greyhound D) objected to the venue.
Black Letter Rule: Federal venue statutes provide that venue may be in a district in which any defendant
resides, if all defendants are residents of the state in which the district is located, or in a district in which a
substantial part of the events or omissions giving rise to the claim occurred.

Piper Aircraft Co. v. Reyno

Instant Facts: The Scottish heirs of plane crash victims in Scotland try to sue for wrongful death in an
American court because American courts recognize wrongful death as a cause of action and are known
generally to be more favorable to plaintiffs than the courts in Scotland.
Black Letter Rule: The fact of a substantive law being less favorable to plaintiffs in an alternative forum
should not be given conclusive or even substantial weight in applying the doctrine of forum non conveniens.
Atlantic Marine Construction Co. v. United States District Court

Instant Facts: The contract between Atlantic Marine (D) and J-Crew (P) provided that all disputes would be
litigated in either a Virginia Circuit Court or the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, but J-
Crew (P) brought suit for payment in the Western District of Texas.
Black Letter Rule: If a federal lawsuit is brought in a venue other than the one set out in a valid forum
selection clause, the clause is enforced either by transferring the case to the selected venue, or, if the forum
selected is a state or foreign court, by application of the doctrine of forum non conveniens.

Subject Matter Jurisdiction of Federal Courts

Louisville & Nashville Railroad v. Mottley

Instant Facts: Injured railroad customers sought to enforce the use of their free passes in the wrong court.
Black Letter Rule: The plaintiff’s federal question must appear in the allegations of the complaint, and
anticipated defense, involving federal law are inadequate for federal question jurisdiction.

Redner v. Sanders

Instant Facts: Redner (P), a United States citizen living in France, sued three New York citizens in federal
court.
Black Letter Rule: Residency is not synonymous with citizenship.

Hertz Corp v. Friend

Instant Facts: Friend (P) and other California employees (P) of Hertz (D) brought a class action suit for wage
and hour law violations, and Hertz (D) sought to remove the suit to federal court based on diversity jurisdiction.
Black Letter Rule: For purposes of diversity jurisdiction, a corporation’s principal place of business is the
location of the corporation’s headquarters.

In re Ameriquest Mortgage Co. Mortgage Lending Practices Litigation

Instant Facts: A borrower sued a lender in federal court for violations of the Truth in Lending Act and fraud,
and the lender moved to dismiss the fraud claims, arguing that, because they were based on state law, the federal
court did not have jurisdiction to hear them.
Black Letter Rule: Under 28 U.S.C. § 1367, in any action in which the federal court has jurisdiction over a
federal claim, it has supplemental jurisdiction over state claims that are so related to claims in the action within
such original jurisdiction that they form part of the same case or controversy under Article III of the
Constitution.
Szendry-Ramos v. First Bancorp

Instant Facts: A bank’s in-house counsel sued the bank when it fired her after she disclosed the bank’s
allegedly unethical practices.
Black Letter Rule: When the plaintiff’s state law claims substantially predominate over the federal claims or
raise complex or novel issues of state law, the federal court may decline to exercise supplemental jurisdiction
over the state law claims.
 State Law in Federal Courts: Erie and Its Entailments

Erie Railroad v. Tompkins

Instant Facts: Lower federal court refused to apply state decisional law concerning duty of due care owed by
railroad to injured person in federal diversity case.
Black Letter Rule: In federal diversity cases, the substantive laws of the state must be applied.

Guaranty Trust Co. v. York

Instant Facts: State statute of limitations applied to bar federal diversity case, rather than more lenient
equitable federal rules concerning delay in bringing suit.
Black Letter Rule: State statute of limitations applies in federal diversity case where, disregarding it, would
significantly affect the result of the litigation, as compared with the outcome had it been tried in state court.

Byrd v. Blue Ridge Rural Electric Cooperative

Instant Facts: Injured worker sued employer for personal injuries in federal court and state law required the
judge, not jury, to decide issue of application of workman’s compensation law.
Black Letter Rule: State decisional law did not apply in federal diversity case where it allowed a judge, and
not jury, to determine a factual issue.

Hanna v. Plumer

Instant Facts: Executor of estate of automobile driver was sued, and summons and complaint were served on
spouse in accordance with federal rule, but contrary to state rule requiring in-hand service.
Black Letter Rule: Federal Rules of Civil Procedure governing service of process apply to federal diversity
cases, notwithstanding conflicting state rule.

Mckesson v. Doe

Black Letter Rule: If a case presents a novel and undecided question of state law, a federal court should certify
that question to the state supreme court before deciding a constitutional issue.
 Joinder

Cordero v. Voltaire, Inc.

Instant Facts: Cordero (P) sued Voltaire (D) to recover unpaid overtime, and Voltaire counterclaimed for fraud
and theft.
Black Letter Rule: A counterclaim based on state law may be heard by federal court if the state law claim is so
related to a federal claim as to form part of the same case or controversy.

Mosley v. General Motors Corp.

Instant Facts: Mosely (P) and nine others joined together to bring suit against General Motors (D) for
discrimination against blacks and women.
Black Letter Rule: The difficulties in ultimately adjudicating damages to various plaintiffs in a class are not so
overwhelming as to require severance of the plaintiffs’ causes of action.

Price v. CTB, Inc.

Instant Facts: After Price (P) sued Latco (D) for negligence, Latco (D) filed a third-party complaint against
ITW (D) seeking implied indemnity.
Black Letter Rule: A defendant may assert a claim against anyone not a party to the original action if that third
party’s liability is in some way dependent upon the outcome of the original action.

Temple v. Synthes Corp.

Instant Facts: The federal district court dismissed Temple’s (P) suit against Synthes Corp. (D) for failure to
join all necessary parties.
Black Letter Rule: It is not necessary to join all potential joint tortfeasors in a single action.

Martin v. Wilkes

Instant Facts:
Black Letter Rule: A judgment or decree is only binding on the parties to a lawsuit and has no impact on the rights
of a non-party who was not joined, even if the non-party had an opportunity to intervene.