9.2 Jurisdiction, Venue & Filing

A beautifully drafted complaint is worthless in the wrong court. Jurisdiction is power. Venue is the proper place. Filing is how the case actually starts, and how an appeal is later taken. The PCCE will swap those words. Define them before you pick.

Subject-matter jurisdiction

Subject-matter jurisdiction (SMJ) is the court’s power to hear this kind of case. Federal district courts are courts of limited SMJ. Two statutes do most of the civil work.

Federal-question jurisdiction — 28 U.S.C. § 1331. The district courts have original jurisdiction of all civil actions arising under the Constitution, laws, or treaties of the United States. The well-pleaded complaint rule looks at the plaintiff’s own claim, not at an anticipated defense. A state-law contract claim does not become federal merely because the defendant will raise a federal statute as a defense. A claim created by a federal statute, or a state-law claim whose well-pleaded statement necessarily raises a substantial federal issue (the narrow Grable path), is the usual § 1331 picture.

Diversity jurisdiction — 28 U.S.C. § 1332. Two requirements must both be met:

1. Complete diversity. No plaintiff shares citizenship with any defendant (Strawbridge v. Curtiss as applied to § 1332). A New York plaintiff versus a New York and a Florida defendant is not diverse.
2. Amount in controversy exceeding $75,000, exclusive of interest and costs. Exactly $75,000 is not enough. The plaintiff may aggregate its own claims against a single defendant. Plaintiffs generally may not aggregate separate and distinct claims against different defendants just to clear the cap.

Citizenship is not “where the person likes to visit.”

SMJ cannot be created by consent, waived by silence, or fixed by a venue stipulation. Rule 12(h)(3) says the court must dismiss if it determines at any time that it lacks SMJ. The paralegal’s flag is early: read the complaint’s jurisdictional paragraph against § 1331 or § 1332 before the partner files.

Personal jurisdiction

Personal jurisdiction (PJ) is the court’s power over this defendant. Due process, as framed in International Shoe Co. v. Washington, requires minimum contacts with the forum such that maintenance of the suit does not offend traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice. Contacts are not a vibes test. Ask how the defendant reached into the forum.

• General (all-purpose) jurisdiction exists where the defendant is essentially at home — domicile for an individual; place of incorporation and principal place of business for a corporation (Goodyear, Daimler). At home, the defendant may be sued on claims unrelated to the forum.
• Specific (case-linked) jurisdiction exists when the claim arises out of or relates to the defendant’s forum contacts (Ford Motor Co.). A single purposeful contact can suffice if the claim is tied to it; a pile of unrelated contacts does not create specific jurisdiction.

Consent (a forum-selection clause, a Rule 12 waiver, or a statutory agent appointment) and tag service on an individual physically present in the forum are additional paths. Rule 4(k)(1)(A) generally allows a federal district court to exercise PJ if a state court of general jurisdiction in that state could. That is why federal service so often borrows state long-arm law. Section 9.4 returns to that borrow.

A court can have SMJ and still lack PJ. The reverse is also true. Do not collapse the two into “jurisdiction.”

Removal and transfer

Removal (28 U.S.C. §§ 1441, 1446) lets a defendant move a case from state court to federal district court if the federal court would have had original jurisdiction. The notice of removal is filed in federal court, typically within 30 days after receipt through service or otherwise of the initial pleading (or of an amended paper that first makes the case removable). All properly joined and served defendants must ordinarily join in or consent to removal. A diversity case generally cannot be removed if any properly joined and served defendant is a citizen of the forum state (the forum-defendant rule, § 1441(b)(2)). Diversity removal also has a one-year outer limit from commencement unless the plaintiff acted in bad faith to prevent removal. After removal, a plaintiff may move to remand. A defect in removal procedure is time-limited; a lack of SMJ is not.

Venue is the proper district among courts that already have jurisdiction. It can usually be waived; SMJ cannot. The general federal venue statute is 28 U.S.C. § 1391. A civil action may be brought in:

1. a judicial district in which any defendant resides, if all defendants are residents of the State in which the district is located (§ 1391(b)(1)); or
2. a judicial district in which a substantial part of the events or omissions giving rise to the claim occurred, or a substantial part of property that is the subject of the action is situated (§ 1391(b)(2)); or
3. if there is no district in which an action may otherwise be brought, any district in which any defendant is subject to the court’s personal jurisdiction (§ 1391(b)(3) — a fallback, not the first stop).

A natural person resides in the district where domiciled. A defendant entity resides, for venue, in any district where it is subject to PJ for the action. Plaintiff residence is not the general § 1391(b) test.

Transfer. If venue is proper, 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a) lets the court transfer to another district where the action might have been brought or to which all parties have consented, for the convenience of parties and witnesses and in the interest of justice. If venue is improper, § 1406 lets the court dismiss or, in the interest of justice, transfer to a district where it could have been brought. Do not call every change of courthouse a “removal.” Removal is state-to-federal. Transfer is federal-to-federal (or the state analogue under a state statute).

What the paralegal flags for the attorney

Before the complaint is filed — or within hours of a new defense intake — run this checklist and put the flags in a memo, not only in your head:

• SMJ. Federal question or diversity? If diversity, list each party’s citizenship and the amount actually in controversy. Watch LLCs (every member) and dual-incorporated corporations.
• PJ. Where is each defendant at home? What contacts tie this claim to the chosen forum? Is there a forum-selection or consent-to-jurisdiction clause?
• Venue. Does § 1391(b)(1) even apply (all defendants in one state)? If not, where did a substantial part of the events occur?
• Removal risk or opportunity. If the case is in state court, is it removable, is the 30-day clock running, and does the forum-defendant rule block diversity removal?
• Limitations and Rule 4(m). Filing may stop a federal limitations clock; it does not excuse a later failure to serve.
• Local add-ons. Civil cover sheet, judge-assignment wheel, related-case notice, and the current fee schedule.

The paralegal does not decide jurisdiction. The paralegal spots the missing citizenship allegation, the $74,000 demand, the in-state defendant in a removal draft, and the venue paragraph that recites only the plaintiff’s home county.

Filing a new case

A new federal civil action is a package, not a lone Word file:

1. The complaint (and any required exhibits or a civil RICO or patent local addendum).
2. The civil cover sheet (the national JS-44 form or the district’s version) — used for statistics, nature-of-suit codes, and jury demand notation. It does not replace a jurisdictional allegation in the complaint.
3. The filing fee in the amount on that court’s current fee schedule, or an application to proceed in forma pauperis under 28 U.S.C. § 1915. Do not memorize a stale dollar figure as if it were FRCP text; fees are set by statute and the Judicial Conference and they change.
4. A summons for each defendant, issued by the clerk under Rule 4(b) after the complaint is filed. The plaintiff (or the plaintiff’s process server) then serves it. Issuance is not service.
5. CM/ECF login, a corporate-disclosure statement when Rule 7.1 requires one, and any local related-case or notice-of-interested-parties form.

State court filing uses the same idea with different labels: a petition or complaint, a state cover sheet, a state fee, and a citation or summons issued by the clerk. States vary. Do not export one state’s “citation” vocabulary into a federal stem.

Filing a notice of appeal

A notice of appeal is how a federal civil loser usually takes the next step. It is a short paper filed in the district court, not a brief. Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 4(a)(1)(A) generally requires filing within 30 days after entry of the judgment or order appealed from. FRAP 4(a)(1)(B) enlarges that to 60 days if one of the parties is the United States, a U.S. agency, or a U.S. officer or employee sued in an official capacity (and in the other official-capacity situations the rule lists). Certain timely post-judgment motions (for example, a Rule 59 motion) can reset the appeal clock; an ordinary motion for reconsideration that is not one of the listed motions may not. Entry on the civil docket, not the day the jury announced a verdict and not the day someone mailed a copy, is the usual trigger.

State notice-of-appeal deadlines vary — 30 days is common, but it is not universal, and some states use a notice plus a separate docketing statement. If a stem is a state judgment, say that the deadline is set by that state’s appellate rules; do not invent a local-rule day count and call it national. Interlocutory appeals, certified questions, and injunction appeals are narrower paths (28 U.S.C. § 1292 and related rules). The exam-safe default for a final federal civil judgment between private parties is FRAP 4(a): 30 days.

Worked path. A California plaintiff wants to sue a Delaware corporation with its nerve center in Texas and a Nevada LLC whose two members live in California and Arizona, for $200,000 on a state-law supply contract negotiated and performed in Arizona. Complete diversity is broken because the LLC is a citizen of California (through a member) and so is the plaintiff. There is no federal question. Flag no § 1332 SMJ. Venue under § 1391(b)(2) would likely include the District of Arizona if a substantial part of the events occurred there, but venue never repairs missing SMJ. File in an Arizona state court unless the membership or the claims change. If the plaintiff later drops the LLC and amends, re-check diversity and the removal clock.