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Ways to get a case to federal court (diversity jurisdiction and arising…
Ways to get a case to federal court (diversity jurisdiction and arising under)
Diversity jurisdiction: one way a federal court can obtain subject matter jurisdiction over a given case (Cornell Law)
2 elements needed for diversity jurisdiction
(1) the parties must be completely diverse (no plaintiff can be from the same state any defendant)
(2) the plaintiff must establish the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000
main reason for diversity jurisdiction is to avoid bias directed at out of state defendants
exceptions to diversity jurisdiction (women and children cases)
familiy law
probate
Element 1 (whether parties in same state)
For individuals
a natural person must be both of a citizen of the United States and a domiciliary of that state (Mas v. Perry)
a person's domicile is the place of "his true, fixed and permanent home and principle establishment, and to which he has intention of returning whenever he is absent therefore"
factors to consider when determining domicile: where one owns property, where is their license issued, where registered to vote (Beiner mentioned these during class)
special rule for insurance: if an insurance company is sued, have to treat them like the insuree
For corporations
a corporation shall be deemed to be a citizen of any state by which it has been incorporated and of the state where it has its principal place of business
3 approaches
(1) place of corporation
(2) nerve center (the approach we went through the most in class)
the nerve center is where the CEO, CFO, and other major decision makers of the company are (where the decisions of the company are made)
look at where the nerve center is and don't just based it off where the company said on its SEC filings
(3) total actitivies
Partnerships (different from corporation): in a partnership, where ever there is a partner, you can sue them there
Element 2 (controversy amount)
burden is on the plaintiff to prove that the amount of $75,000 is met
Harsehy v. Advanced Bionics Corporation
individuals can't combine their damages to get to $75,000
if determine amount using other cases, those cases have to be similar to your case
lawyer saying that they just know the amount of these types of damages was not sufficient
one the plaintiff shows the amount is met, then the defendant has to prove the amount was not met
Arising under the Constitution, laws, or treaties of the United States
patents exclusively in federal court because federal government always has intrerst in this because they are the only entity that can approve patents
4 part test for arising (Gunn v. Minton)
(1) necessarily raised
well-pleaded complaint rule: has to be in the pleading to use as way to prove the case will be over a federal issue; can't just say that the other side will use federal law as a defense as a way to prove federal issue
this only applies to federal trial courts, the Supreme Court can take the case if not in the pleading as long as there is federal issue then the SC can take the case
example: In Grable this element was met because the case turned on whether or not the IRS applied a federal statute properly
(2) actually disputed
(3) substantial federal issue
Example: In Minton, there was no implication not the federal system because if malpractice was proven then then patent would still be invalid and doesn't bind anyone else because it's fact based
(4) capable of resolution in federal court without disrupting the federal-state balance approved by Congress
example: In Minton, court said the states is responsible for its own lawyers and nothing from Congress suggest that they wanted legal malpractice cases in the federal courts so that is why in Minton this element was not met