CH 3

🧠

  • Venue where defendant lives

  • In rem against the property

  • In personam jurisdiction affecting specific person

  • Appeal to ask higher court to review case

  • Adjudication judge looking over evidence to settle dispute

  • Pleading is the first stage for a trial

  • 6 stages

  • First document to be submitted in pleading stage is complaint

  • Ripe is affecting right now

THE BIG PICTURE (Core 20%)

To bring a legal case, a court must have authority (jurisdiction) in three ways:

  1. Power over the person/property

  2. Power over the type of case

  3. Proper location (venue)

Everything else is details supporting these three.

⚖ 1. PERSONAL JURISDICTION (Power over people/property)

🔑 The key rule: Minimum Contacts

  • A court can only require someone to appear if they have a meaningful connection to the state.

  • Prevents unfair lawsuits in random places.

👉 What counts as a connection:

  • Living in the state

  • Doing business there

  • Causing harm there

📌 Types:

  • In personam → over a person

  • In rem → over property

👉 Bottom line:
No connection = no case

🌐 2. INTERNET JURISDICTION (Modern application)

🔑 Sliding Scale Rule:

  • Active business online → court likely has power

  • Passive website → no power

  • Interactive → depends

👉 Core idea:
More intentional interaction with a state = more legal responsibility there

🏛 3. SUBJECT-MATTER JURISDICTION (Type of case)

🔑 Three categories:

  1. State courts → default (most cases)

  2. Exclusive federal → special topics (bankruptcy, patents)

  3. Concurrent → either system

💰 Diversity Jurisdiction (High importance)

Federal court allowed if:

  • Parties are from different states

  • Amount > $75,000

👉 Must be complete diversity (no overlap in states)

🏢 Corporations:

A business “lives” in:

  • State of incorporation

  • Main headquarters (“nerve center”)

🔁 4. ORIGINAL vs APPELLATE (Court roles)

  • Original → trial, facts, evidence

  • Appellate → reviews legal mistakes

👉 Key takeaway:

  • Trial = what happened

  • Appeal = was the law applied correctly

📍 5. VENUE (Best location for the case)

Usually:

  • Where defendant lives

  • Where incident occurred

  • Where property is

👉 Can change if unfair or inconvenient

⚡ FINAL 80/20 INSIGHT (Everything boiled down)

If you remember nothing else, remember this flow:

  1. Does the court have power over the person?
    → (minimum contacts)

  2. Does the court have power over this type of case?
    → (state vs federal, diversity)

  3. Is this the right place to hear it?
    → (venue)

This is the entire system in one sentence:
👉 Courts need the right power, over the right case, in the right place.