No. 18-____ IN THE Supreme Court of the United States ———— FIRST ADVANTAGE BACKGROUND SERVICES CORP., Petitioner, v. SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN MATEO, Respondent; MARCUS CHISM, Real Party in Interest. ———— On Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the Supreme Court of California ———— PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI ———— G. DANIEL NEWLAND ROBERT J. CARTY, JR. ERIC MICHAEL LLOYD Counsel of Record SEYFARTH SHAW LLP SEYFARTH SHAW LLP 560 Mission Street 700 Milam Street Suite 3100 Suite 1400 San Francisco, CA 94105 Houston, TX 77002 (415) 397-2823 (713) 225-2300
[email protected] [email protected] [email protected] FREDERICK T. SMITH ESTHER SLATER MCDONALD SEYFARTH SHAW LLP 1075 Peachtree Street, N.E. Suite 2500 Atlanta, GA 30309 (404) 885-1500
[email protected] [email protected] Counsel for Petitioner October 23, 2018 WILSON-EPES PRINTING CO., INC. – (202) 789-0096 – WASHINGTON, D. C. 20002 QUESTIONS PRESENTED Under the Fourteenth Amendment, a state court may not exercise specific personal jurisdiction over a non-resident defendant unless the conduct giving rise to the cause of action occurred in the forum state and caused harm within that state. Here, the courts of California have exercised specific jurisdiction over a defendant in a putative nationwide class action brought under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, even though none of the alleged conduct occurred in California and the plaintiff alleges no harm there (or anywhere else). Given California’s rule that defendants who litigate on the merits waive personal- jurisdiction arguments, FCRA defendants are likely to choose settlement rather than seek relief in this Court.