Civil Procedure: Understanding Diversity and Alienage Jurisdiction in US Courts, Slides of Civil procedure

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CIVIL PROCEDURE

SECTIONS C & F

Subject Matter Jurisdiction: Diversity

and Alienage

Introduction to Personal Jurisdiction

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HYPO (assume amount in

controversy met)

• How do you determine the citizenship of a

corporation for the purposes of diversity

jurisdiction?

• What statutory provision governs a

corporation’s citizenship for this purpose?

CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP

• For the purposes of diversity, a corporation

may have 2 citizenships unlike a natural

person who can only have 1

• 1. Place of incorporation
• 2. Principal place of business (2 tests –

NERVE CENTER, PLACE OF

OPERATIONS)

Complete Diversity

Complete Diversity

• Chief Justice Marshall apparently regretted his decision in Strawbridge v. Curtis later in his life.
• Nevertheless, it remains good law.

Americans Domiciled Abroad

• Pier-Luigi is an American citizen domiciled in Paris. Can Jonathan, an American citizen domiciled in New York, invoke alienage or diversity jurisdiction to sue Pier-Luigi in federal court?
• Can Jonathan rely on alienage or diversity jurisdiction to sue Pier-Luigi’s friend Marie-Louise, a French national domiciled in Paris in federal court?

Amount In Controversy Requirement

• What is the amount in controversy

requirement for diversity?

Amount in Controversy Hypo

• Remi (NV) sues Camilla (ME) for breach of contract in federal district court. Remi’s complaint seeks $6,000 in actual damages and $100,000 in punitive damages. The Supreme Court of Nevada has recently ruled in that punitive damages are not available in actions for breach of contract. Assume NV law governs. Does the federal court have subject matter jurisdiction on the basis of diversity?

Traditional Aggregation Rules

• CAVEAT: traditional rules may be superceded to some extent by supplemental jurisdiction statute
• 1. P with multiple claims against the same D: e.g. Ringo sues Paul for $70,000 in federal court for personal injuries suffered in a motorcycle crash. Assume Ringo and Paul are citizens of different states.
• A. Can Ringo join a claim in the same action for damage to the cycle for $15,000? Cite support.
• B. What if rather than suing for damage to to bike, Ringo sues Paul for $10,000 for an unrelated breach of contract?