Personal Jurisdiction

 Is there a long arm statute?

o Yes- Analyze the statute and see if claim filed meets the requirements

. Go on to constitutional analysis

o No- Constitutional analysis

 Constitutional Analysis- Has the defendant purposefully availed himself of the benefits of the state?

 Minimum Contacts

o State what the contact is

o Nature of contact

. Single/Isolated or continuous/systematic?

. Gives rise to the claim

 Purposeful Availment

o Look at the benefits/obligations, awareness

o Stream of commerce

. O’Connor test- Directly targeting the market

- Specific design for the market

- Advertisements

- Distribution of products through distributor/company

. Brennan test- Awareness, knowledge product may end up in forum

o Internet

. Zippo

- Is the website interactive or passive - If interactive, do the effects test

. Effects

- Is the harm felt in the forum?

- Did the defendant know the harm would be felt in the forum?

- Is the focal point aimed at the forum?

o Contract- not sufficient on its own. Must have substantial connection to the forum state

. Parties’ actual course of dealings

. Prior negotiations

. Terms of the contract

. Contemplation of future consequences

 Reasonableness- fair play and substantial justice

o Defendant’s Burden

o Plaintiff’s interest

o State’s interest

o Interstate efficiency

. Will another state’s laws be at issue?

o Shared State interest

. Does another state of interest in litigating the claim?

 Rule 4(k) exception

o Claim must arise under federal law

o Must establish minimum contacts within the United States Notice

 Waiver

o Look for “official request and notice”

o Elements

. Must be in writing and addressed to the individual defendant or to an officer, mincing or general agent or any other agent authorized by appointment or by law to receive service in a corporation or partnership or association

. Name the court where the complaint was filed

. Must include the waiver, a copy of the complaint, 2 copies of a waiver form, and a prepaid envelope

. Inform the defendant of consequences of waiving and not waiving service

. State the date the request was sent

. Reasonable time of at least 30 days to return the waiver (60 if outside US)

. Sent by first-class mail for other reliable means

o How did the waiver get to the party?

. First class mail or other reliable means

 Personal Service

o Service

. What? Complaint and Summons

. Who? Person over 18 not a party to the case

. Where? Personal or at the defendant’s dwelling or usual place of abode

 Cite Khashoggi case

 Requirements of leaving it at the usual place of abode

o Indication of permanence o Whether he owns the home

o Usual amount of time spent at home

o How much investment is put into property

o Present at the time of service

 If leaving the case with someone else, look to see if the person is of suitable age and discretion

o If there is a statute, it follows 4(e)(1)

. Notice under state in which case is filed

. If statute is given, probably means she wants us to do the statutory interpretation

o If there is not a statute, must follow 4(e)(2)

 Constitutional Analysis under Mulane

o This is done if the defendant is challenging the state statute as in violation of due process

o Mulane Test

. What satisfied due process?

. Notice is reasonably calculated to inform the parties of the suit

. Test is actually a cost benefit analysis

 The cost of service weighed against the benefit of actually informing the parties of the suit

Case summaries

 International Shoe

o Established minimum contacts test

o International Shoe sold shoes through its salespersons in Washington state. Its employee was personally served in Washington and a letter was sent to the headquarters in Missouri.  McGee

o CA resident bought insurance from an AZ company, which was later bought by a TX company. The CA resident was the company’s only connection to CA.

o Because the company reissued the contract to the defendant, the company established contact

 Hanson

o The plaintiff set up a trust in DE for a PA resident who then moved to FL

o The plaintiff, not the company, established the contact with FL

 World Wide Volkswagen

o Developed purposeful availment

o The defendant established the contact with the forum state, not the defendant

o Defendant did not purposefully avail themselves of the benefits of OK

 Calder v. Jones

o The harm was done in CA, the person that the article was about was in CA with her work in CA, the article was targeting CA and the audience that author was targeting was in CA- therefore, the effects are felt in CA

 Burger King

o Contract established the contact with FL and was substantial enough because all of the payments were going to FL, the contract is executed in FL and an express provision of the contract said FL law will apply in disputes arising from the contract

o The defendants “were and are experienced and sophisticated businessmen”

 Asahi

o Forum completely unreasonable because neither party is a citizen of the United States and the forum would only have made sense in the US citizen Zurcher was still a part of the case.

. Because both parties are foreign, the legal system is not only different, so is the language barrier.  Shaffer v. Heitner

o DE Greyhound stock case

o “Death” of quasi in rem jurisdiction

 Revell

o The website was not targeting TX, the effects were not felt in TX and the focal point of the article was not TX

 Mullane

o The service must be reasonably calculated to reach the parties involved

 Helicopteros

o All parties agree there is only general jurisdiction, so for the forum to have jurisdiction, there must be strong contacts with the state

Definitions

 Specific jurisdiction/in-rem

o The relationship the defendant’s contact with the forum has with the claim. The defendant’s contact gave rise to the claim

 General jurisdiction/quasi in-rem

o The defendant’s contacts with the forum are not related with the claim