Is There Jurisdiction?

Business Law I

Is there Jurisdiction?

Look at the situations below and answer the question. Make sure to distinguish between subject matter and personal jurisdiction.  Additionally, discuss the standard the court will use to determine whether jurisdiction exists.  

Situation 1: Mike, a Utah resident, sues Jim, a Nevada resident for $60,000 in Nevada’s Federal District court for negligence (a state law civil suit).  Jim argues that the case should be dismissed for a lack of subject matter jurisdiction.  Is he right?  Situation 2: Bill, a California resident, sues Bob, also a California resident, for copyright infringement, a cause of action arising under federal law, in a Federal District Court in California.  Bob argues that there is no subject matter jurisdiction. Is he right?   Situation 3:  Billy, a Seattle, Washington resident, sues the Orange Corporation, a Texas corporation, under a breach of contract (a state law cause of action) in Washington State Court for $100,000.   The Orange Corporation does most of its business in Texas. It is incorporated in Texas, and its corporate Headquarters are located in Dallas, Texas. However, the Orange Corporation does have a branch office in Seattle, Washington where it employs a single salesman. Additionally, the corporation advertises in the Seattle.  The corporation argues that Washington lacks personal jurisdiction over the corporation. Is the corporation right? Assume for this question that Washington may exercise personal jurisdiction to the extent permitted by the Constitution of the United States.  Be sure to list the standard the court will apply.  Situation 4: Same facts as above. Assume the court finds there is personal jurisdiction. Can the Orange Corporation have the case removed to federal court?  

The requirements below must be met for your paper to be accepted and graded:  

• Write between 500 – 750 words (approximately 2 – 3 pages) using Microsoft Word.
• Attempt APA style, see example below.
• Use font size 12 and 1” margins.
• Include cover page and reference page.
• At least 60% of your paper must be original content/writing.
• No more than 40% of your content/information may come from references.
• Use at least two references from outside the course material, preferably from EBSCOhost.  Text book, lectures, and other materials in the course may be used, but are not counted toward the two reference requirement.

Reference material (data, dates, graphs, quotes, paraphrased words, values, etc.) must be identified in the paper and listed on a reference page.Reference material (data, dates, graphs, quotes, paraphrased words, values, etc.) must come from sources such as, scholarly journals found in EBSCOhost, online newspapers such as The Wall Street Journal, government websites, etc.  Sources such as Wikis, Yahoo Answers, eHow, etc. are not acceptable. A detailed explanation of how to cite a source using APA can be found here (link).  Download an example here