JURISDICTION DEFINING STATE COURTS' AUTHORITY 2017 Forum for State Appellate Court Judges Forum Endowed by Habush Habush & Rottier S.C. JURISDICTION DEFINING STATE COURTS' AUTHORITY 2017 Forum for State Appellate Court Judges Forum Endowed by Habush Habush & Rottier S.C. When quoting or reprinting any part of this report, credit should be given to the Pound Civil Justice Institute. Permission to reprint a paper should be requested from: Pound Civil Justice Institute 777 Sixth Street, NW, Suite 200 Washington, DC 20001 www.poundinstitute.org [email protected] The Endower, Habush Habush & Rottier S.C., and the Forum underwriters have no control over the content of the Forum, the makeup of faculty or attendees, the placement of information in Forum materials, or the editorial content of the 2017 Forum Report. Library of Congress Control Number 2017963390 ISBN: 978-0-933067-25-7 ©2018 Pound Civil Justice Institute “Really, what we are all striving for is justice. Fair play and justice are what that test is about.” —A judge attending the 2017 Forum “The touchstone of jurisdiction is due process.” —Prof. Simona Grossi “State courts retain considerable leeway in personal jurisdiction cases to keep the courthouse doors open, even under the Supreme Court’s recent jurisprudence.” —Prof. Adam Steinman TABLE OF CONTENTS FOREWORD ..........................................................................................................................................................................1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................................................3 WELCOME REMARKS .......................................................................................................................................................5 Honorable Ralph D. Gants, Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court MORNING PAPER, ORAL REMARKS, AND COMMENTS ......................................................................................7 "Personal Jurisdiction: Origins, Principles, and Practice" Professor Simona Grossi, Loyola Law School, Los Angeles...............................................................................7 Oral Remarks of Professor Grossi ............................................................................................................................41 Comments by Panelists, Response by Professor Grossi, Questions and Comments from the Floor ...................................................................................................................................45 LUNCHEON ADDRESS ................................................................................................................................................... 59 "Juries Make a Difference" Honorable William G. Young, United State District Court, District of Massachusetts ...............................59 AFTERNOON PAPER, ORAL REMARKS, AND COMMENTS ............................................................................. 69 "State Court Jurisdiction in the 21st Century" Professor Adam N. Steinman, The University of Alabama School of Law ...................................................69 Oral Remarks of Professor Steinman ......................................................................................................................85 Comments by Panelists, Response by Professor Steinman, Questions and Comments from the Floor ...................................................................................................................................90 CLOSING PLENARY ...................................................................................................................................................... 105 THE JUDGES’ COMMENTS ......................................................................................................................................... 107 POINTS OF CONVERGENCE ..................................................................................................................................... 133 APPENDICES ................................................................................................................................................................... 139 Faculty Biographies ..................................................................................................................................................139 Judicial Participants .................................................................................................................................................147 2017 Forum Underwriters ......................................................................................................................................151 About the Pound Civil Justice Institute .................................................................................................................152 Officers & Trustees of the Pound Civil Justice Institute, 2016-17 ............................................................................... 153 Papers of the Pound Civil Justice Institute ............................................................................................................154 JURISDICTION: DEFINING STATE COURTS' AUTHORITY i FOREWORD The Pound Civil Justice Institute’s twenty-fifth Forum for State Appellate Court Judges was held on July 22, 2017, in Boston, Massachusetts. As with all of our past forums, it was both enjoyable and thought-provoking. In the Forum setting, judges, practicing attorneys, and legal scholars considered the crucial issue of challenges to courts’ jurisdiction—a recent trend that threatens access to justice. The Pound Civil Justice Institute recognizes that the state courts have the principal role in the administration of justice in the United States, and that they carry, by far, the heaviest of our judicial workloads. We try to support them in their work by offering our annual Forums as a venue where judges, academics, and practitioners can have a brief, pertinent dialogue in a single day. These discussions sometimes lead to consensus, but even when they do not, the exercise is always fruitful. Our attendees bring with them different points of view, and we make additional efforts to include panelists with outlooks that differ from those of most of the Institute’s Fellows. That diversity of viewpoints emerges in our Forum reports. Our Forums for State Appellate Court Judges have been devoted to many cutting-edge topics, ranging from the court funding crisis to the decline of jury trial, to separation of powers, rulemaking, forced arbitration, and judicial transparency. We are proud of our Forums, and are gratified by the increasing attendance we have experienced since their inception, as well as by the very positive comments we have received from judges who have attended in the past. A full listing of the prior Forums and their content is provided in an appendix to this report, and their reports and papers—along with most of our other publications—are available for free download on our Web site: www.poundinstitute.org. The Pound Institute is indebted to many people for the success of the 2017 Forum for State Appellate Court Judges: • Professor Simona Grossi and Professor Adam Steinman, who wrote the papers that started our discussions; • Hon. Ralph Gants, Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, for welcoming us to Boston; • our lunch speaker, Hon. William Young of the United States District Court, District of Massachusetts, for an inspiring discussion on the importance of civil jury trials in America; • our panelists—Alani Golanski, Hon. Geraldine Hines, Professor Lonny Hoffman, Toyja Kelley, Linda Morkan, Hon. Jenny Rivera, Matt Wessler, and Professor Margaret Woo; • the moderators of our small-group discussions—Linda Miller Atkinson, Leslie Bailey, Kathryn Clarke, Caragh Fay, Tom Fay, Wendy Fleishman, Steve Herman, Pat Malone, Andre Mura, Wayne Parsons, Gale Pearson, Alinor Sterling, John Vail, and David Wirtes; • and the Pound Civil Justice Institute’s dedicated and talented staff—Mary Collishaw, our executive director, and Jim Rooks, our consultant and Forum reporter—for their diligence and professionalism in organizing and administering the 2017 Judges Forum. JURISDICTION: DEFINING STATE COURTS' AUTHORITY 1 It goes without saying that we appreciated the attendance of the distinguished group of judges who took time from their busy schedules so that we might all learn from each other. We hope you enjoy reviewing this report of the Forum, and that you will find it useful to you in your consideration of matters relating to jurisdiction and access to civil justice. Ellen Relkin President, Pound Civil Justice Institute, 2016-18 2 JURISDICTION: DEFINING STATE COURTS' AUTHORITY INTRODUCTION On July 22, 2017 in Boston, Massachusetts, 164 judges, representing 35 states, took part in the Pound Civil Justice Institute’s twenty-fifth annual Forum for State Appellate Court Judges. The judges examined the topic, “Jurisdiction: Defining State Courts’ Authority.” Their deliberations were based on original papers written for the Forum by Professor Simona Grossi of Loyola Law School, Los Angeles (“Personal Jurisdiction: Origins, Principles, and Practice”), and Professor Adam Steinman of The University of Alabama School of Law (“State Court Jurisdiction in the 21st Century”). The papers were distributed to participants in advance of the meeting, and the authors made less formal oral presentations