Chemerinsky: Despite SCOTUS ruling, questions of personal jurisdiction remain unsettled
Erwin Chemerinsky. Photo by Jim Block.
For the last two decades, the U.S. Supreme Court has consistently restricted the ability to sue out-of-state defendants without their consent. But in
The decision, handed down in March, is important in clarifying the law of personal jurisdiction, but it also raises many questions that will confront lower state and federal courts and ultimately need Supreme Court resolution.
Some background
Every first-year law student in civil procedure reads the famous case of
International Shoe v. State of Washington (1945). Before this case, the court long had ruled that due process limits the ability to sue an out-of-state defendant without its consent. In