Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Subject Matter Jurisdiction (28 USC § 1332 Diversity (Amount in…
Subject Matter Jurisdiction
28 USC § 1331
Federal Question
The district courts shall have original jurisdiction of all civil actions
arising under
the Constitution, laws, or treaties of the United States.
28 USC § 1331
.
A case
arises under
if the claim is
substantially founded on a federal law
(including federal common law, federal constitutional law, a federal statute or regulation).
Exclusive
A federal statute specifically states that the federal courts have exclusive power.
Patent & Copyright 28 USC § 1338
Securities 15 USC § 1340
Bankruptcy 28 USC § 1334
Antitrust 15 USC §§ 1-27
Postal Matters 28 USC § 1339
IRS 28 USC § 1340
Concurrent
Cases which the federal court share most of the jurisdiction with the state court, so Plaintiff may file in either.
Causes of action arising under the Constitution are concurrent
28 USC § 1332 Diversity
Complete Diversity (
Strawbridge
): No defendant can be of the same domicile as any plaintiff.
Measured at the time of the complaint
(a)(3)
citizens of different states
and
in which citizens of a foreign state are added parties
(there must be a US citizen on both sides and then any amount of foreigners on one or both sides).
(a)(1)
Citizens of different states
(only US citizens on both sides)
(a)(4) foreign state
(plaintiff)
v. US citizens
(of same or different states). Applies only when a foreign country or agency of a foreign country sues a US party.
Unicorps (LLC, LLP, etc.) and partnerships are judged by each member of the partnership
Class Actions (only look at named representative)
When over $5 Million
Only minimal diversity needed-- such that any plaintiff is different from any defendant.
28 USC § 1332(d)(2).
Court may still deny such class if greater than 1/3 and less than 2/3 of plaintiffs are from forum state.
28 USC § 1332(d)(2)(3)
.
When under $5 Million
Must have complete diversity
(a)(2)
State v. Foreign State
(only if there are only US citizens on one side and only foreigners on the opposite side).
Amount in Controversy
MUST
exceed
$75K
exclusive of interest and costs
May include and aggregate pain and suffering or punitive damages provided you
reasonably expect to receive
such amounts sufficient to meet the dollar amount
If Plaintiff does is not awarded over $75K, court can award costs to defendant.
28 USC § 1332(b).
Defendant can contest amount in controversy only if there is no legally possible recovery exceeding $75K
When seeking
non-monetary relief
courts are split on how to determine amount in controversy
(2) Value to Defendant
(3) Value to one seeking diversity
(1) Value to Plaintiff
(4) Whichever is greater between plaintiff and defendant
Aggregate Claims
A single plaintiff can aggregate all his various unrelated claims against a single defendant.
The standard for two plaintiffs is they may
NOT
aggregate claims that are "
separate and distinct.
"
In
Class Action
: NEED ONE PERSON IN CLASS OVER $75K (bc they likely have separate and distinct claims although they are the same type of harm).
Class Actions have
special rule
that
if
the amount in controversy is
over $5 million
, there is no need for any on with over $75K themselves.
28 USC § 1332(d)(2)(A).
28 USC § 1367 Supplemental Jurisdiction
Federal Court exercises SMJ over
additional
claims that do not independently qualify for federal SMJ under 28 USC §§1331 or 1332
The Federal Court shall exercise supplemental jurisdiction over a claim
so related
that it
"forms part of the same case or controversy."
"form part of the same case or controversy" means they are "
derived from a common nucleus of operative fact
" and are of such a nature that they "
would ordinarily be expected to try them all in one judicial proceeding.
" (
United Mine Workers
).
Poison Pill for Plaintiffs
.
28 USC § 1367(b)
: In diversity only cases, a plaintiff may not bring supplemental jurisdiction against the following types of joined parties when doing so would defeat complete diversity.
FRCP 19: compulsory joinder of parties needed for complete relief to be granted.
FRCP 20: permissive joinder of parties relating to same series of transactions/occurrences if similar question of fact/law
FRCP 14: Defendant brings in a third-party plaintiff
FRCP 24: intervention by third-party with similar interest or question of fact/law.
Discretion to deny
.
28 USC § 1367(c)
.
(2) state claim predominates fed claim [i.e. 24 pages of breach of contract in complaint and one paragraph that this violated due process; (tail wagging the dog)].
(3) the court has dismissed the original claims upon which jurisdiction granted
If dismissed fed jurisdiction portion close to or during trial, normally proceed
If dismissed fed jurisdiction portion well b/4 trial, normally dismiss the rest
(1) novel/complex issue of state law (i.e. New minimum wage law with no State decisions yet).
(4) other compelling reasons (catch-all).
28 USC § 1367 (d)
– If the court dismisses a case under § 1367(b) or (c), then the
statute of limitations is tolled for at least
*30 days
*to allow the PL to refile the case in state court
BUT
if state law allows longer allows tolling, then the longer period applies.
FRCP 8(a)(1): Plaintiff must allege a short plain statement of grounds of jurisdiction;
thus must identify the basis of the action in the complaint
SMJ is governed by Article III §§ 1 and 2
§1 established Supreme Court and allows federal government to establish lower courts
§ 2 limits federal courts to those categories enumerate:
arising under the Constitution
between citizens of different states
Well Pleaded Complaint Rule
(
Mottley
) - complaint
cannot anticipate a defense
based on Federal Question in order to get into Federal Court