Also known as: general in personam jurisdictions · general jurisdiction
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A court's authority to adjudicate any and all claims against a defendant regardless of where those claims arose. For a corporation the authority exists only where the corporation is at home, meaning its place of incorporation or principal place of business, absent truly exceptional circumstances that render another forum a surrogate home.
GenPharm maintains its incorporation and headquarters in other states but runs a large packaging plant and sales office in State N2. Olivia, injured by a drug tested elsewhere, sues GenPharm in State N2 on an unrelated claim. The court dismisses for lack of general jurisdiction because the facility does not make GenPharm at home in N2.
Crest Cars is incorporated and headquartered in Germany yet operates a large testing ground in Michigan. Drivers injured abroad sue in Michigan federal court. The court grants dismissal because the testing operations, though substantial, do not render Crest Cars at home in Michigan for unrelated foreign claims.
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A manufacturer incorporated and headquartered elsewhere maintains ongoing sales and product distribution in the forum state. Plaintiffs injured by products purchased outside the forum sue for all claims. The court dismisses because continuous sales alone do not establish the at-home contacts required for general jurisdiction.
Midwesco ships goods into Ohio under a contract containing a forum-selection clause. Bendix sues in Ohio on an unrelated contract claim. The court refuses general jurisdiction because Midwesco's incorporation and headquarters remain elsewhere and its Ohio shipments do not create at-home status.
Burnham visits California briefly and is served with process while there. His ex-wife sues for divorce and property division. The court upholds general jurisdiction over the individual defendant based on physical presence at the time of service, independent of any at-home corporate analysis.
A federal court sitting in diversity must decide whether to apply state or federal rules on jury trials. The underlying claim involves a corporate defendant whose contacts are analyzed under general jurisdiction standards. The court treats the jurisdictional question as substantive for Erie purposes and applies state law.
No. A corporation is subject to general jurisdiction only where it is at home, meaning its place of incorporation or principal place of business, absent exceptional circumstances. Extensive operations such as a packaging facility or testing center do not satisfy the at-home test even when continuous and substantial.
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The two paradigm forums are the corporation's state of incorporation and its principal place of business. Only in rare exceptional cases will another state be treated as an additional at-home location.
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No. Mere continuous sales or products in the forum are insufficient to support general jurisdiction for claims unrelated to those contacts. The corporation must be essentially at home in the state.
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General jurisdiction allows adjudication of any claim against the defendant. Specific jurisdiction requires that the claim arise out of or relate to the defendant's contacts with the forum. The at-home test governs only general jurisdiction.
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…under the attachment laws of Ohio, and laid down the principle of assuming that all had been rightly done by a court having general jurisdiction of the subject-matter. In Cooper v. Smith , 25 Iowa, 269, it is said, that where no process is served on the defendant, nor property attached, nor garnishee charged, nor appearance…