Personal Jurisdiction

In order for a court to hear a case, it must have personal and subject matter jurisdiction. Personal jurisdiction is the type of jurisdiction that says that a person is within the area a court has a say in. Each court is given an area of control. For a person to have his or her case heard within that area, the court must have the ability to exercise control over the defendant.

In order to exercise jurisdiction over a defendant, a court must have personal jurisdiction. In order to have personal jurisdiction over a person, the person must have minimum contacts with the district. Minimum contacts came about through a number of Supreme Court cases that defined exactly what it meant. Basically, the contacts the defendant has with the district must not be tenuous.

There are four ways a person can have minimum contacts with a judicial district. The first is through direct business contacts with the district. This can be through employing people, operating a distribution center or similar office facility, or anything similar. In addition, owning a home can be sufficient for this area of minimum contacts.

The second way is through a contract. If a signed contract says that any litigation will take place in a specific jurisdiction, then that can meet the requirements for minimum contacts. The third way is through the stream of commerce. If a manufacturer makes something and has a reasonable amount of certainty that the item will end up in a certain jurisdiction, that meets the requirements.

The fourth way to satisfy the minimum contacts portion of personal jurisdiction is through the injurious effect. If someone does something and is reasonably certain that the action will have an injurious effect on an individual in a specific place, he or she has satisfied minimum contacts.

After minimum contacts are satisfied, the court must look for relatedness and finally reasonableness.

Contact a Philadelphia Personal Injury Attorney

If you have been injured in the Philadelphia area, contact a Philadelphia personal injury lawyer from Lowenthal & Abrams at 215-238-1130.