Subject Matter Jurisdiction and Removal: every key term you need (+ practice quiz)
25 flashcard terms for Civil Procedure Topic 2, written to match the course framework. Study them here, then drill them as interactive flashcards, or test yourself with the 15-question quiz — free, no account needed.
A federal court's competence over the type of claim presented; it cannot be waived or conferred by consent and must be policed by the court on its own motion at any stage of the case.
Courts of limited jurisdiction
Federal district courts may hear only cases authorized by Article III and by statute, so the party invoking federal power bears the burden of establishing that power exists.
Federal question jurisdiction
Under 28 U.S.C. 1331 district courts hear civil actions arising under the Constitution, laws, or treaties of the United States, with no amount in controversy requirement.
Well-pleaded complaint rule
Federal question jurisdiction must appear on the face of the plaintiff's properly pleaded claim; an anticipated federal defense or a federal counterclaim will not create it.
Louisville and Nashville Railroad v. Mottley
The classic well-pleaded complaint case: the plaintiffs' contract claim raised a federal issue only in anticipating a defense, so no federal question jurisdiction existed.
Grable and Sons Metal Products v. Darue Engineering
A state law claim can arise under federal law where a federal issue is necessarily raised, actually disputed, substantial, and resolvable without disturbing the federal-state balance.
Diversity jurisdiction
Under 28 U.S.C. 1332 federal courts hear suits between citizens of different states, or citizens and foreign nationals, where the amount in controversy exceeds seventy-five thousand dollars.
Complete diversity rule
Strawbridge v. Curtiss requires that no plaintiff share citizenship with any defendant; a single shared citizenship destroys statutory diversity no matter how many parties are diverse.
Domicile
An individual's state citizenship equals domicile: physical presence in a state combined with the intent to remain indefinitely, and a person has exactly one domicile at any moment.
Corporate citizenship
A corporation is a citizen of every state of incorporation and of the one state containing its principal place of business, so it may hold dual or multiple citizenships.
Hertz Corp. v. Friend
The 2010 nerve center test defines principal place of business as the single place where a corporation's officers direct and coordinate its activities, usually its corporate headquarters.
Unincorporated association citizenship
Partnerships, limited liability companies, and unions take the citizenship of every member, which frequently defeats diversity for multi-member business entities with scattered ownership.
Amount in controversy
The plaintiff's good faith allegation controls unless it appears to a legal certainty that recovery cannot exceed the statutory threshold; interest and costs are excluded from the calculation.
Aggregation of claims
A single plaintiff may add all claims against a single defendant to meet the threshold, but separate plaintiffs generally cannot aggregate distinct claims absent a common undivided interest.
Supplemental jurisdiction
Under 28 U.S.C. 1367 a federal court may hear additional claims that share a common nucleus of operative fact with an anchor claim, since together they form one constitutional case.
United Mine Workers v. Gibbs
The pendent jurisdiction decision holding that state and federal claims deriving from a common nucleus of operative fact form a single case for Article III purposes.
Section 1367(b) limitation
In diversity-only cases supplemental jurisdiction is withheld from certain claims by plaintiffs against parties joined under the joinder rules when hearing them would defeat complete diversity.
Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Allapattah Services
Additional plaintiffs whose claims fall below the amount threshold may ride along on supplemental jurisdiction, but a citizenship defect in any plaintiff still destroys diversity entirely.
Discretionary declination
Under 28 U.S.C. 1367(c) a court may decline supplemental claims that raise novel state issues, predominate over the anchor claim, or remain after all federal claims drop out.
Removal
Under 28 U.S.C. 1441 a defendant may move a civil action from state court to the federal district embracing that court if the action could originally have been filed in federal court.
Forum defendant rule
A diversity case is not removable if any properly joined and served defendant is a citizen of the state where the action was filed, since the local defendant needs no protection.
Rule of unanimity
All defendants properly joined and served must join in or consent to removal, and the notice must ordinarily be filed within thirty days of service of the removable pleading.
One year limit on diversity removal
A case that becomes removable later may generally not be removed more than one year after commencement unless the plaintiff acted in bad faith to defeat the defendant's removal right.
Remand
Under 28 U.S.C. 1447 a removed case lacking subject matter jurisdiction must be sent back at any time, while merely procedural defects must be challenged within thirty days of removal.
Domestic relations exception
A judge-made carve-out barring federal courts from issuing divorce, alimony, and child custody decrees even where the diversity and amount requirements are technically satisfied.