What is personal jurisdiction and what are its limits?
It is the court’s ability to exercise jurisdiction over an individual person.
State courts may exercise personal jurisdiction over Ds only when the requirements of both applicable state law and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment are met.
What are the types of personal jurisdiction?
- In personam jurisdiction - It occurs where a court has the power to enforce a judgment over a particular D.
- In rem jurisdiction - It occurs where a court has the power to enforce a judgment over all persons with respect to a particular item of property within the court’s control. the basis for such jurisdiction is the presence of the property in the state, and the state’s interest in adjudicating the rights of all the world with respect to that property.
- Quasi in rem jurisdiction - It occurs where a court has the power to enforce a judgment only over particular persons with respect to property within the court’s control. Since the jurisdiction is over the property, the court’s judgment does not bind the D personally. Unlike in rem jurisdiction, state courts cannot exercise quasi in rem jurisdiction solely on the basis of the property’s presence within the forum state. Minimum contacts with the D must exist.
a. Quasi in rem type 1 - Where the dispute involves the rights of parties in the property itself or is otherwise closely related to the property, the minimum contacts requirement is met and jurisdiction is proper.
b. Quasi in rem type 2 - Where the dispute is unrelated to the property itself, other minimum contacts with the D must exist in order for jurisdiction to be proper.
What are the statutory requirements for personal jurisdiction?
State long-arm statutes generally grant a state power to exercise personal jurisdiction over a D found in another state when sufficient minimum contacts with the forum state have been met.
Oklahoma’s long-arm statute extends to the limits of due process. it states that an Oklahoma court may exercise jurisdiction on any basis consistent with federal and state constitutions. Thus, Oklahoma courts may exercise jurisdiction over a non-resident D who has minimum contacts with Oklahoma. The minimum contacts must show that the person purposely availed itself of the benefits of the state.
What are the constitutional requirements for personal jurisdiction?
In order for a court to exercise PJ over a person, the Due Process Clause requires that:
- parties directly affected by the court action must receive fair and adequate notice of the action; and
- there must exist some minimum contacts between the D or property and the forum state.
Notice
A reasonable method must be used to notify the D of a pending action in order that he may have an opportunity to defend himself.
If the agent had been voluntarily selected by the D and the agent is noticed, the D is deemed to have received himself. If the agent had been appointed by contract or operation of law to represent the D and the agent is notified, failure of the agent to pass along notice to the D will prohibit jurisdiction since the D would be deprived of an opportunity to be heard.
Minimum Contacts
Jurisdiction may be exercised over a D if he has such minimum contacts with the state that it would be fair to require him to return to that forum to defend a lawsuit.
Two Prongs:
a. Contacts - If a party’s contacts with the forum state are substantial or pervasive, the court will have general jurisdiction over that party. If the contacts involve a single act or are systematic and continuous, the court may exercise jurisdiction over a claim that arose out of those contacts. To establish minimum contacts, it must purposefully avail itself of the privilege of conducting activities within the forum state. Through purposeful availment, there is a reasonable foreseeability of being haled into court.
b. Fairness - The D bears the burden of proving that it would be fundamentally unfair for the D to litigate there in order to avoid the court’s personal jurisdiction. there are five factors:
i. burden on the D;
ii. interests of the forum state;
iii. P’s interests in obtaining relief;
iv. interstate judicial system’s interest in efficiency; and
v. share policy interests of the states.
Must be quite substantial for a court to reject jurisdiction.
What are the Methods of Attaining Personal Jurisdiction?
- A state court may exercise general personal jurisdiction over a D if the D is served with process while physically within the state. See Doctrine of Transient Jurisdiction. However, there is no personal jurisdiction if:
a. the P cause the D to enter the forum state by force or fraud; or
b. the out-of-state D entered the forum state solely to take part in a judicial proceeding. - A state court may exercise general personal jurisdiction over any persons domiciled within the state, even if the D was not physically present in the state when served with process.
- An individual may be subject to a state court’s PJ by explicitly consenting to such jurisdiction, such as by:
a. signing a contract with a provision;
b. appointing an agent in a particular state to receive service; or
c. voluntarily appearing in court to contest the case without challenging PJ. - An individual may be subject to a state court’s PJ through implied consent.
- An individual ma be deemed to involuntarily consent to PJ if he has failed to cooperate with discovery about his contacts with the forum state and the court holds that such failure of cooperation constitutes a waiver of object to PJ.
