Long-Arm Jurisdiction

Question: why is long arm jurisdiction an issue for those who post websites? long arm jurisdiction is an issue for those who create websites because why?

Answer: once you hid behind your country's border...now you can not

Question: when can A state exercise long-arm jurisdiction over a defendent in a diffrent state? sorry if i wasn't clearn enough, but it would be in concern with a civil case, not criminal. like a contract or something.

Answer: If State A has the defendant on some kind of supervised release (parole, probation), or out on bail or own recognizance, they can probably reach all the way to State Z to exercise their jurisdiction and get the defendant back to State A when they want him. But State A can't normally prosecute someone in State B for an offense committed in State B. In fact, I can't think of any time they could, but the minute I said that some smarty-pants lawyer would walk in here and show me how it can be done. And just to be a little clearer, if the defendant commits a crime from State B in State A (let's say he mails something illegal into State A from State B), then State A can go get him through proper channels. The defendant has basically "entered" State A by mailing something illegal and doing so gives State A an interest in grabbing the defendant from the other state. I'm having breakfast with a smarty-pants lawyer Friday morning. I'll try to remember to ask and come back with the answer. Interesting question.

Question: when is a court required to use long-arm jurisdiction? according to Wolf article?

Answer: When one of the parties is outside the court's regular jurisdiction--usually in another U.S. state.

Question: Why is long arm jurisdiction an issue for those who create or post Web pages?

Answer: In order to have jurisdication for a lawsuit, there must be "miknimum contacts" with the state. For example, let's say that a store engages in fraud. The customer comes in, pays money, and gets ripped off. To sue the store, the customer will simply file the action in the state where the transaction took place. That state, because it is located and transacts business in that state, has minimum contacts with the state. Now, lets say that a web site commits a fraud. The web site was created in the bahamas (but does not disclose this). Its owner lives in the bahamas. The customer is in California. The customer sends money but gets nothing. He was ripped off. The customer wants to sue the web owner/business. The owner says: my business is in the bahamas. I am in the bahamas. The customer sent (allegedly) money to my business in the bahamas. I do not have minimum contacts with California, so he cannot sue me in your court. The result ... the customer, to sue over the fraud, must go sue in the Bahamas, a foreign jurisdiction. The web has made the world a much smaller place. The law says that merely advertising in a state is insufficient to establsih minimum contacts to submit to the jurisdiction of a state's courts. Thus, the problem with the web is that there may be no place to sue.

Question: What is Long Arm Jurisdiction?

Answer: A "long arm" statute is law passed by a state government giving courts in that state jurisdiction over defendants who do not necessarily live in that state or do business there regularlly. Jurisdiction refers to the power of the court to decide a case. Jurisdiction is of two types: subject matter jurisdiction and jurisdiction over the parties (personal jurisdiction. A court must have both types of jurisdiction before it has jurisdiction to decide the case. Personal jurisdiction relates to the question of whether someone from another state, Alaska, New York, or Nevada can be forced to come to the state where the lawsuit was filed (the "forum state") e.g. California, to defend against the lawsuit. The existence of personal jurisdiction depends upon a sufficient connection between the defendant and the forum state to make it fair to require defense of the action in the forum. The long arm statute sets for the conditions under which the trial court can exercise personal jurisdiction over a non-resident defendant.

Question: If a civil case uses a long-arm statute, does the complaint have to mention it? Or can a long-arm statute be used implicitly, without even any mention of jurisdiction in the complaint?

Answer: You will have to justify bringing the action in a particular jurisdiction. If you live in County A and the defendant lives in county B you have to state that the contract or action took place in county A. The courts have ruled that almost any contact between a defendant and your jurisdiction makes him accountable in that venue. Even sending an email to you is enough. If different States are involved you will have to serve the secretary of State, in your state who will, in turn, serve the Secretary of State in his State and they will serve the defendant. I recently brought suit, in the District Court in Michigan, against a Company in California. I was able to serve the complaint by registered mail and bring the proof of service to the District court. The service was valid and the defendant had to get ( and pay) a Michigan attorney to defend him in Michigan. I had a solid case so they settled before trial.

Question: Are all "long arm" statutes constitutional? For example, if a state's long arm statute were to grant automatic personal jurisdiction to all state and local courts over every defendant who had ever visited that state in the past 20 years, regardless of the details of each case, would that long arm statute be clearly unconstitutional? Approximately how many of the states presently have long arm statutes that are probably unconstitutional?

Answer: Generally, states don't have such broadly worded long-arm statutes. Many states responded to court cases by re-wording their statutes to something along the lines of "granting personal jurisdiction to the extent allowed by the US Constitution," or words to that effect, giving personal jurisdiction unless it would violate the US Con. Other states retained their statutes that were less inclusive, so they actually have a 'gap' between what is allowed by the statute and what is prohibited by the Con. After court cases of the mid-20th century, states with unconstitutional long-arm statutes re-worded them (usually with the 'as allowed by the con' language). I would be surprised if any state retained an unconstitutional long-arm statute today, but I also have only studied a few of them and the cases leading to the modern changes, not the actual language of most of the statutes.

Question: U.S. Civil Procedure and state Long-Arm Statutes? I'm having a little trouble really grasping this concept. For example, let's say a citizen of Washington State performs some sort of act which brings him within the jurisdiction of Texas. Does a long arm statute give the ability of a Texas court to adjudicate a claim with the Wash. Citizen as a defendant? I And I realize that Texas will have personal jurisdiction over the defendant, but is this because of a long-arm statute or is this a minimum contacts/purposeful availment issue?

Answer: Generally the act that brought the Defendant under Texas jurisdiction would be enumerated under the statute. Minimum contacts/purposeful availment usually comes into play when there national chain such as Walmart. Lets say Walmart has its main office Oregon but they have stores in texas if a wrong occurs in texas, since there are carrying on business and actually have a store there they would have minimum contacts with Texas.

Question: Can a long-arm statute be used to fight back against another state's long-arm statute? A local government in a state I haven't visited in years is trying to use that state's long-arm statute to claim I owe local taxes there and to put the burden of proof on me to prove I wasn't there in that tax year and didn't have any vehicles there. The amount involved is less than the cost of a single trip there. Can I use my state's long arm statute to sue them for harassment? In other words, does their long-arm lawsuit against me constitute the minimum contacts necessary to bring them under the jurisdiction of a typical long-arm statute? Don't give the cop-out anwer that it depends on which states are involved. It's a federal question, because it's the kind of thing the Supreme Court decides, such as in Burger King Co. v. Rudzewicz, etc. If you must make your answer dependent on particular states, choose some example states.

Answer: No, because the other state has sovereign immunity, you can't sue them in your home state court. However, you can get relief when they try to docket the tax warrant in your home state. That's when you get your due process hearing and the proceeding to challenge the warrant is heard in your home state.

Question: Long-arm statute? I've been sued for $4500 in my previous home state of CA. I'm living overseas now. Does the court have jurisdiction over me? Is general jurisdiction based on residence while the cause of action occurred or on current residence? Will they serve me all the way here for that little money? I'm prepared to file a motion to demurr or to quash based on improper service and/or lack of personal jurisdiction.

Answer: You don't offer enough facts to provide a definitive answer, but - I suggest that you'll both lose the motion and, if you don't answer, a default judgment for the $4500. If the cause of action arose through your purposeful contacts with California, the fact that you are now overseas does not preclude your being served, and both subject matter and personal jurisdiction being established.

Question: Which of the following BEST describes the concept of a court's jurisdiction? a the ability to issue subpoenas to compel witness production b the power to utilize a long-arm statute c the place where the trial is held d the power to issue a valid and binding judgment after having lawfully heard the subject matter of the claim

Answer: d

Question: Test your knowledge: Do you know the answers to these question? (if yes, please answer the questions)? Because the federal government is a government of limited powers, the jurisdiction of federal court is limited. Provide two bases (reasons) for a federal court to have jurisdiction over a case, and give an example of each. What would happen if a case were filed in a court that did not have a jurisdiction over it? Define “long-arm jurisdiction” and provide an example. List the four elements of negligence. What is contributory negligence and how is it different from comparative negligence?

Answer: I can help with one through four. Question five is pretty complicated and I don't feel confident of my answer. 1. First, the case involves a "federal question," such as one that arises under the Constitution. Example: Can the law restrict interracial marriage (Loving v. Virginia). Second, the parties involved in the case are from different states. Example: I live in Wisconsin and I want to sue someone in Georgia. 2. The court would kick it out. A court cannot hear a case over which it does not have jurisdiction. 3. When a law (called a long-arm statute) provides for jurisdiction over a nonresident defendant who has had contacts with the state. I live in Florida but I'm a traveling salesperson who travels to Illinois, where I do something that gives my Illinois-based customer a reason to sue me. 4. Duty, Breach, Causation, Damages

Question: Is it illegal or unethical to have the same case in 2 states at the same time? I have a parentage determination case currently running in Maryland and had one dismissed in Delaware for lack of personal jurisdiction but I am thinking of getting the action in DE running agail as well as having one in MD. It will require DE to long arm into MD while the MD case is active. The DE case was dismissed without prejudice and gave me 90 days to locate my ex to a place where she can be summoned, but I can ask for a long arm. I got the letter for the dismissal on Friday and refiled in MD on Monday. I found my ex on Saturday and she called the police on me when she saw me. The police didn't do much once I started to go over the situation and gave them the court case numbers. She is currently trying to use the police for her court defense. As far as I can tell she has no lawyer at this time. I am worried about flight because she has disappeared in the past and I need to get to a point where she is summoned into court or some point where I can ask the court to take legal or criminal action against her. According to Delaware law they are suppose to have jurisdiction because my daughter was conceived and born in the state; but she currently resides in Maryland.

Answer: No but its a waste of money. The other party will use the ruling in the first case to dismiss the second. Any judge would grant an adjournment pending the outcome of the other case.

Question: Personal jurisdiction question? Jason, a Washington resident, was driving on I-5 from Seattle, WA to Anaheim,CA to go to Disneyland. While still several miles from the California border, Will began dozing at the wheel,but did not want to pull over until his next meal stop.Adam, a California resident, was driving north on the same highway in the opposite direction as Jason. Adam looked down for a moment to change the station on his car radio right when Jason dozed at the wheel, swerving across the freeway divider in front of Adam. The two cars collided head-on, causing serious injuries to both drivers. The accident took place in Oregon, but both drivers, while unconscious, were air-lifted to the nearest trauma center located in northern California. They each spent a month recovering, during which time neitherof them ever left the trauma center.As soon as he was well enough to travel, Jason paid for his medical bills and immediately flew back to Seattle. After Adam recovered from his injuries, he filed a negligence lawsuit against Will in a federal court in California,seeking $120,000 in damages. (There is no applicable federal law pertaining to accidents on interstate highways, nor does any part of the U.S. Constitution or treaty with a foreign country pertain to auto accidents.). was served process in Washington pursuant to California’s long arm statute,which is identical to New Mexico’s. At the trial, Jason made a special appearance to challenge the court’s personal jurisdiction over him. Does the court have personal jurisdiction over Adam’s lawsuit against Jason? Can you explain that?

Answer: The first 4 sections are important if a court does not have personal jurisdiction over a defendant or property, then the court cannot bind the defendant to an obligation or adjudicate any rights over the property. Personal jurisdiction is to be distinguished from subject-matter jurisdiction, which is the power of a court to render a judgment concerning a certain subject matter, or territorial jurisdiction, which is the power of a court to render a judgment concerning events that occurred within a territory. Unlike subject-matter jurisdiction, personal jurisdiction may be waived, even unintentionally, by a defendant. Personal jurisdiction, territorial jurisdiction, subject-matter jurisdiction, and proper notice to the defendant are the most fundamental constitutional prerequisites for a valid judgment. Each state handles traffic matters in its own way. In most of New York State, for example, traffic matters are heard in the court for the city, town, or village where the alleged violation happened. The town and village courts are known as Justice Courts. Each municipality has its own way of doing things. New York City traffic matters (and a few other locations) are heard in a special court called Traffic Violations Bureau, with a very different process. New Jersey handles traffic matters in the Municipal Court System, with the most serious cases heard in Superior Court. In Washington, D.C. traffic tickets are handled by the Department of Motor Vehicles. In California tickets are handled in Superior Court. Massachusetts tickets are heard in District Courts. In the City of Chicago, traffic tickets issued by Chicago Police Officers with no possibility of jail time are handled by the City's Law Department, frequently by law students. All other traffic violations (including those issued by state police) are dealt with by the Cook County State's Attorney. Constitutional limits The Supreme Court of the United States has held that constitutional requirements of due process limit the exercise of personal jurisdiction over nonresidents. The same outer constitutional boundaries for personal jurisdiction apply in both state courts and federal courts. Moreover, because of Rule 4 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP 4), a federal court ordinarily applies the personal jurisdiction statutes (e.g., long-arm statutes) of the state in which it sits, even when the state has not extended personal jurisdiction to its constitutional limits. (Some states, such as California, have long-arm statutes that give their courts personal jurisdiction to the extent constitutionally permitted.) In some exceptional circumstances, FRCP 4 grants a federal court personal jurisdiction when the law of the state in which it sits would not. In general, to be subject to personal jurisdiction, a defendant that was not personally served with process within the state must have a sufficient level of personal or business contacts with the state in which the court sits that the defendant could reasonably expect to be sued there. These contacts are generally referred to by the term of art minimum contacts. Generally speaking, a party is subject to personal jurisdiction in a state if the party has purposely availed itself of the resources of protection of the state, and if the exercise of jurisdiction does not offend traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice. See International Shoe v. Washington. Leading cases finding minimum contacts sufficient for personal jurisdiction are International Shoe and Burger King v. Rudzewicz. Leading cases finding insufficient contacts for personal jurisdiction are World-Wide Volkswagen Corp. v. Woodson and Kulko v. Superior Court. Personal jurisdiction problems are acute in cases involving business transactions conducted across state lines, where the defendant may not have set foot in the other state, but still conducted affairs with the other state's residents through correspondence, the shipment of goods, or indirect agents. Even more difficult, and more unsettled, personal jurisdiction issues arise in stream of commerce cases. In the quintessential stream of commerce case, a defendant in one state sells a widget to a manufacturer in the same state, which incorporates the widget into a retail product and sells it to a consumer in another state, who then sues claiming injury from the widget. The leading Supreme Court stream of commerce case, Asahi Metal Industry Co. v. Superior Court, resulted in a split, failing to clarify the issue. Internet cases raise several troublesome personal jurisdiction problems. For example, a website may be viewed anywhere in the United States, though it is hosted in California and operated by a California citizen. Courts must decide in which locations, under what circumstances, the exercise of personal jurisdiction over the citizen for claims arising from the website comports with traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice. For mo

Question: business Law, just looking for some input on these questions? Why is personal jurisdiction an issue for those who post Websites? What are some reasons that a website owner might be concerned with whether a court is able to obtain 'personal jurisdiction' over them? What is normally required for a court to have personal jurisdiction? When is a Court required to use long-arm jurisdiction? Why is long arm jurisdiction an issue for those who create or post Web pages? According to the Wolf article, the courts have imposed an "interactive-passive" test of jurisdiction. Explain that distinction. According to the Wolf article, is advertising on the Web alone enough to confer personal jurisdiction?

Answer: Wow this is way too much to answer in Y/A. Personal jurisdiction for those who have websites would become a nightmare because by having a website you would be exposed to jurisdiction in all states, and all countries, without actually having contact with all states and all countries. A primary concern would be if you advertise business in any jurisdiction (state, country)

Question: Law question? when is a court required to use long arm jurisdiction? thank you

Answer: When it doesn't have any other way to force you to appear. For instance, if you live in state X and you're being sued in state Y, the court in state Y needs to have some way to exert authority over you. That's where long-arm jurisdiction comes into play.

Question: Interstate Child Support Question? I live in Texas. In Janurary of 2004 I became pregnant with my son. His father is from Louisiana. He worked here and we had a pretty serious relationship for a while before I became pregnant. After the baby was conceived his rig moved and I heard very little from him. Then the baby was born and I filed for child support, only to find out he was married. It was very ugly. Since he is out of this state Texas has no jurisdiction. I have filed some sort of long arm something or other and now Louisiana is in the process of pursuing my case. I am curious as to whether or not there is something ELSE I can do about this case. Is there some special agency that deals with this sort of thing? He requested a DNA test which he never showed up for back in late 2004. I was recently told that they have a record of him finally making an appearnce in court in Louisiana, but still no test results have been sent in. If anyone has knowledge of how this thing works I would appreciate it.

Answer: There are certain states that don't uphold the child support orders of other states... Louisiana isn't one of them. The will do what they can to help you. Sometimes you just have to be patient. As for the DNA test, unless his name is on the birth certificate, they can't order him to pay support. If the court orders him to do so, then I would imagine he can be held in contempt for failing to do so. Even if Texas has no jurisdiction in Louisiana, they can still have him served with paperwork. Whether the state of Texas would actually have him arrested and transported at their expense, not unless he owes a lot of support. Good Luck!

Question: How to sue my credit card company ? We are certain the merits of our case itself are strong in our favor and are well documentd (the case involves errors on their part in stop payment on "credit card" checks that eventually went through). We just came out of small claims today- the case was squashed -- on service and jurisdiction/venue. We have the right entity and served them correctly. Problem is these credit card corps are very unavailable to sue- at least in small claims (in California)- They do tons of business in Cali. but have NO registered agent- there4 we had to serve their summons to them in Delaware, which means we can't sue them in California because they were served out of state. The Judge told us to file a Limited Civil claim but as it turns out the SAME is true despite the long arm statute of Cali. We have limited time due to SOL. We are about to go down to federal court and file a complaint (@ $350/filing). What court do we sue in (without going to Delaware)? I'm not a Lawyer! HELP

Answer: The suit will likely be governed by the laws of Delaware because of your credit card agreement's choice of law section. You'll need a lawyer to help you draft a civil complaint. You absolutely CAN sue them in California, even if they have no agent in the state. If the company does extensive business in California then they are almost certainly subject to the jurisdiction of California courts, but you will need to comply with California's rules regarding out-of-state service. As for your federal complaint, your action may or may not be governed by federal law, depending on how the courts interpret the credit card company's "checks." If the court decides that the checks are actually checks, and not credit card instruments, then you're wasting your time filing in federal court - you don't meet the requirements. I think your best bet is to hire a California lawyer familiar with interstate litigation, and he will almost certainly sue in California state court, applying Delaware's version of the Uniform Commercial Code as per your agreement, which is fortunately almost exactly the same as California's. Good luck.

Question: Survey Question for everyone!!!!? 14. A "long arm" statute enables A. a federal court to decide certain state cases. B. a state court to decide certain federal law claims. C. a state court to decide certain claims against nonresidents. D. a court of one county to decide claims arising in another county. E. a private citizen to extradite a criminal. 15. Barry swings a bat in baseball practice and accidentally hits the catcher in the shoulder. This is probably best described as A. an intentional tort. B. a battery. C. a felony. D. an assault. E. none of the above. 16. Betty has been served with a summons and a complaint asking for monetary damages. If she fails to file certain pleadings by a deadline, A. the court will dismiss the case for lack of jurisdiction. B. the court will enter a decree pro confesso. C. Betty will be allowed to file an amended complaint. D. the court will strike her complaint. E. the court may enter a default judgment against Betty. 17. Joshua is hurt while playing football for the New York Jets. Johsua sues the opposing team and the individual who hurt Joshua. Assume no malice or intent to hurt Joshua. This was probably an illustration of A. res ipsa loquitur. B. consent defense. C. a person can never consent to being hurt. D. assault and battery. E. malum prohibition. 18. If a statute is found to be applicable to a fact situation, then the courts will hold that an unexcused violation which causes an injury to another is A. strict liability. B. res ipsa loquitur. C. negligence per se. D. assmption of the risk. E. contributory negligence. 19. If the Hometown News snaps your picture while you are sleeping under a tree in the park and runs it on the front page, you can sue for A. instrusion. B. appropriation. C. false light. D. defamation. E. none of the above. 20. Alfred wishes to institute a suit against International Corporation for breach of contract. In order to start the suit, he must file A. a decree for interlocutory relief. B. an answer. C. a petition (complaint). D. a motion for a summary judgment. E. a motion for a judgment on the pleadings.

Answer: to much reading I pick C for all your questions, I didn't read past the first 2. Is this a "poll" or homework? What happens if someone from another country answers, would you mark them wrong, even if some of those questions are different where they live???????

Question: Why is long arm jurisdiction an issue for those who create or post Web pages?

Answer: Long arm jurisdiction allows people to sue you in courts where you are not located. there are different basis for jurisdiction and long arm allows the courts to reach out beyond their jurisdiction to get to you. So if you are a web site based in New York and you defame someone in california, but your servers are located in new mexico, where can you be sued? NY, CA or NM? Thats the issue. And the answer depends on which state you are in and which state they are trying to get jurisdiction in and where the electronic info is stored and where the servers are and whether you intended to be seen in the other state, etc.