Q&A Hero

Q: Name the three instances in which a federal court may establish subject matter jurisdiction over a defendant.

Q: A motion for a judgment as a matter of law is called a motion for a judgment non obstante veredicto in some states.

Q: You are a defense attorney representing a man who has ignited a bomb in a public building in the city of Xanadu, a small city. It appears that everyone in Xanadu knows someone who died in the blast. The crime has been front-page news every day for a year, and local television personalities have consistently ranted about your client's guilt. You want to have the trial moved to another city. What is your argument, and should it be successful?

Q: With regard to international business transactions conducted online, what are the two theories used to determine whose law applies in a dispute?

Q: Mountain Stuff is a Colorado corporation selling mountain-climbing equipment. It maintains a website that provides information about its products as well as general information about mountain climbing. A consumer cannot purchase equipment directly from the site but can request order forms to purchase equipment directly from Mountain Stuff. Mountain Stuff maintains no offices outside Colorado, and no products are sold by retailers outside Colorado. After an accident involving climbers using the equipment of a competitor, Utah Mountain Sports, Mountain Stuff prints an article on the general-information portion of its website that accuses Utah Mountain Sports of intentionally manufacturing and selling defective and substandard equipment. There is no direct proof referenced in the article and in fact the article is incorrect. Nevertheless, other articles are written referencing the Mountain Stuff statements, and Utah Mountain Sports has seen an otherwise unexplained 10 percent decline in its typically $1 million-a-month sales in each of the three months since the Mountain Stuff article was published. If Utah Mountain Sports sues in federal court in Utah, will the court be able to find personal and subject matter jurisdiction under these circumstances?

Q: Christine is a resident of Delaware and, while shopping in Pennsylvania, is assaulted by Puuki, a New Jersey resident. Ordinarily, venue in this case would originally be in: A. Delaware. B. Pennsylvania. C. New Jersey. D. the state chosen by Christine because multiple states are involved.

Q: Which of the following involves the analysis of personal jurisdiction? A. application of a long-arm statute B. diversity jurisdiction C. federal question jurisdiction D. enforcement of a state or federal criminal law

Q: Which of the following will not create minimum contacts in a state sufficient to find personal jurisdiction on an out-of-state defendant? A. A company maintains a website that provides information about its products and that provides an address or number that a customer can contact to obtain an order form to purchase products directly from the company. B. A company maintains an office in the forum state that is manned once a week by employees. C. A company sends sales personnel into the forum state to conduct business but does not maintain an office within the forum state. D. A company maintains no physical office within a state and does not send sales personnel in to conduct business, but it target advertises in the forum state, providing special products and discounts for the forum state's residents.

Q: Minzer Corp. is considering a lawsuit against Salter Inc., for patent infringement. Minzer is a Delaware corporation, and Salter is located in Utah. If the case is brought in Utah, what issues should the Minzer board of directors consider when deciding whether to file and pursue the case?

Q: The U.S. Supreme Court exercises both original and appellate jurisdiction. In which matters may the Court exercise its original jurisdiction?

Q: The Zippo standard requires a case-by-case analysis: A. whenever the website in question is considered passive. B. whenever the website in question is considered interactive. C. whenever the website in question is considered integral to the business model. D. whenever a website is involved, regardless of how it is classified.

Q: With regard to federal question jurisdiction: A. the case may be filed in either state or federal court. B. the case may be filed only in state court if the controversy is $75,000 or more. C. the case may be filed only in federal court if the controversy is $75,000 or more. D. the case may be filed only in federal court and the amount in controversy is irrelevant.

Q: The Supreme Court case of Pennoyer v. Neff articulated a framework for the exercise of personal jurisdiction by lower courts that applied to: A. federal courts only and was based on providing fairness to the parties with constitutional requirements related to due process. B. state courts only and was based on providing fairness to the parties with constitutional requirements related to equal protection. C. both federal and state courts and was based on providing fairness to the parties with constitutional requirements related to equal protection. D. both federal and state courts and was based on providing fairness to the parties with constitutional requirements related to due process.

Q: Which of the following situations will create diversity jurisdiction? A. New York sues Virginia to stop the sale of firearms to New York residents. B. April, a Delaware resident, is a student at the state university in Delaware and sues for $1 million after she was molested on campus due to lack of appropriate security. C. April, a Delaware resident, is a student at an out-of-state university and sues the school for a $50,000 tuition refund when she must leave for a semester for a personal family emergency and the school refuses a refund or credit. D. April, a Delaware resident, sues Mike, a New York resident driving in Delaware, for $80,000 when he rear-ends her while she's riding her bicycle and severely injures her.

Q: In Keeton v. Hustler Magazine, the New Hampshire court determined that: A. mere regular circulation of a magazine is insufficient alone to create jurisdiction if no physical presence of the defendant can be shown in the state. B. regular circulation of a magazine is sufficient to establish jurisdiction in a defamation case because of the potential for injurious effects of defamatory articles even without an otherwise physical presence of the defendant. C. Hustler, due to its pornographic nature, loses constitutional protections and is subject to personal jurisdiction based on fundamental fairness for the plaintiff. D. regular circulation of a magazine is considered a physical presence in a forum state due to the tangible nature of the magazine itself.

Q: A forum selection clause: A. is written into a contract when the contract is entered into. B. is created by the contracting parties after the dispute arises and they analyze the fairest location for the trial. C. is created by the court after determining where jurisdiction is the strongest. D. is created by the parties after the dispute arises based on the type of dispute and which state's court has the appropriate precedent and statutory law to hear the case.

Q: With regard to establishing minimal contacts to establish jurisdiction regarding out-of-state companies that advertise and sell products over the Internet, which of the following is not a true statement? A. The U.S. Supreme Court has not yet directly ruled on the issue. B. The Zippo standard, established in Zippo Manufacturing Company v. Zippo Dot Com Inc., is not legally binding precedent. C. At least six federal circuit courts have adopted the Zippo standard as the legal framework to assess minimum contacts. D. The Zippo standard sets a rigid test to establish minimum contacts, requiring that at least 5 percent of the state's population visit the company's website.

Q: In Mink v. AAAA Development LLC, the court refused to grant personal jurisdiction over AAAA because: A. Texas courts refused to follow the Zippo standard since Zippo was decided by a federal district court, a court that does not establish precedent. B. the court adopted the Zippo standard and found that the AAAA site had no level of interactivity, so no minimum contacts were established. C. the court adopted the Zippo standard and found significant interactivity and more than sufficient minimum contacts but reasoned that Vermont was so distant from Texas that it would be unfair to subject AAAA to a Texas lawsuit. D. the court adopted the Zippo standard and found that there was minimal interactivity on the AAAA site, which didn't rise to the level of minimum contacts sufficient to create personal jurisdiction in Texas.

Q: The exchange of e-mail between companies in different states can create personal jurisdiction in a lawsuit when: A. the defendant maintains an office in the forum state. B. the defendant, at a minimum, has employees that enter the forum state to conduct business. C. the e-mail is an integral part of an ongoing business relationship even if no offices or personnel are within the forum state. D. the e-mail specifically references a voluntary intention by the parties to submit to the forum state's personal jurisdiction.

Q: Olivetone Inc., a Florida corporation, manufactures and sells suntan products. Through its website Olivetone sells its products in bulk to a company in Finland, which then distributes and sells the Olivetone products to Swedish companies for retail sale to Swedish consumers. Both Finland and Sweden are in the European Union, but the United States is not. Should a dispute arise and Olivetone is sued, whose law will apply? A. Because the country of reception approach will be utilized, Finnish law will apply since the products initially went to Finland, where the Finnish servers were located. B. Because the country of reception approach will be utilized, Swedish law will apply because the products were ultimately received in Sweden, where the Swedish servers were located. C. Because the county of origin rule will apply, U.S. law will apply because the defendant's servers are in the United States. D. Because the country of origin rule will apply, the International Court of Justice will have to determine where the dispute actually arose and will award jurisdiction to that country.

Q: The principal federal trial court is the: A. U.S. district court. B. U.S. court of appeals. C. U.S. circuit court. D. U.S. Supreme Court.

Q: In 2002, Australia's highest court ruled on a defamation case in which an Australian citizen claimed to have been defamed by a Dow Jones article published on the defendant's website. The court found that the citizen was defamed: A. but jurisdiction over Dow Jones couldn't be established because the defendant had no physical presence in Australia. B. but jurisdiction over Dow Jones couldn't be established because the defendant's servers were in America and the article had been uploaded in the United States, so it was considered published in the United States and not subject to Australian law. C. and jurisdiction over Dow Jones was established because under American law, the defendant's website was interactive and sufficiently established minimum contacts, creating jurisdiction. D. and publication of the article occurred when the article appeared and could be read on a user's computer screen, establishing jurisdiction in Australia.

Q: The ultimate arbiter of federal law is: A. the Senate. B. the President. C. the U.S. Supreme Court. D. the full Congress.

Q: In Estate of Weingeroff v. Pilatus Aircraft, the plaintiff's representative brought a diversity action against Pilatus, a Swiss company that manufactured the plane that crashed, killing Weingeroff. The court decided: A. that because Pilatus was a Swiss company, it was immune from civil lawsuits. B. in favor of Pilatus because the more than $1 million that it spent in Pennsylvania was too insignificant to create minimum contacts and no specific marketing was done targeted to Pennsylvania. C. in favor of Weingeroff because spending over $1 million in Pennsylvania satisfied the minimum-contacts requirement to create jurisdiction. D. in favor of Weingeroff because Pilatus conducted a nationwide marketing campaign and specifically manufactured planes to meet FAA compliance, thus constituting purposeful availment.

Q: The "effects test" is utilized: A. to determine the amount of damages a defendant must pay the plaintiff. B. by the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether to accept a case for review. C. by a federal court to determine whether state precedent should apply to a case it is adjudicating. D. to establish personal jurisdiction over an out-of-state defendant in certain cases when minimum contacts do not otherwise exist.

Q: Mackey Corp. is incorporated in Delaware but has no office or personnel in the state. Its main office is in Arizona. Mackey would have a physical presence in Delaware if: A. it maintains a P.O. box to receive mail, which is then forwarded to the main office in Arizona. B. it advertises its products in Delaware newspapers. C. its sales personnel drive through Delaware to go to offices in Maryland. D. it sells products to Delaware residents using the USPS for delivery.

Q: An Oregon corporation and a New Hampshire corporation have entered into a contract and agreed that any legal disputes will be conducted using New Hampshire law. This agreement is called a: A. state selection clause. B. venue selection clause. C. site selection clause. D. forum selection clause.

Q: Federal court judges are: A. selected by the president without outside confirmation. B. nominated by the president and subject to full congressional confirmation. C. nominated by the president and subject to Senate confirmation. D. nominated by the President and subject to House of Representative confirmation.

Q: When a party files a writ of certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court, how many justices must vote to hear the case for it to be accepted for review? A. four B. five C. six D. The vote must be unanimous.

Q: Because it is not a state, cases arising in Washington, D.C., are heard by: A. a specially appointed court that reports directly to the U.S. Supreme Court. B. courts from the Virginia state system because Virginia is the closest state. C. the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals. D. the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

Q: Rich has been arrested for a series of 21 home burglaries that spanned over nine months. The news regarding the crime spree was on television, on radio, and in the newspapers on a regular basis. His lawyer doesn't believe that Rich can get a fair trial locally, so he will ask for: A. a change in personal jurisdiction. B. a change in subject matter jurisdiction. C. a change in venue. D. a change using a long-arm statute.

Q: Diversity jurisdiction requires citizens of two different states: A. or a controversy of $50,000 or more. B. and a controversy of $50,000 or more. C. or a controversy of $75,000 or more. D. and a controversy of $75,000 or more.

Q: Which of the following is not a component that needs to be shown to authorize use of a long-arm statute? A. The defendant must transact business within the plaintiff's state borders. B. The defendant must have violated a plaintiff's state statutory law. C. The defendant must have committed negligence resulting in loss to the plaintiff within the plaintiff's state borders. D. The defendant owns property in the plaintiff's state.

Q: According to the Zippo standard, websites that provide information but do not provide the opportunity to conduct online transactions are deemed to be passive and do not create personal jurisdiction over the defendant company that operates the site.

Q: A state probate court, which hears only will and estate matters, is generally described as having limited authority or jurisdiction.

Q: The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, located in Washington D.C., has exclusive jurisdiction to hear appeals from federal courts of appeals throughout the country prior to their appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Q: The trial court in New York has heard a case and issued a decision. This decision: A. will be precedent in New York courts only. B. will be precedent in New York courts and the courts of states immediately surrounding New York. C. will be precedent in the courts of all 50 states. D. will not be precedent in any U.S. courts.

Q: Which of the following does not occur in appellate court trials? A. presentation of testimony and new evidence B. oral arguments by each side's attorneys C. consideration of briefs prepared by each side's attorneys that outline the law and applicable precedent pertinent to the case D. review of lower court transcripts and rulings

Q: Which of the following courts renders decisions binding only on the parties involved in the dispute? A. the Pennsylvania Supreme Court B. the U.S. Supreme Court C. the U.S. District Court D. the Michigan Appellate Court

Q: When an attorney requests a change of venue, the attorney is asking: A. for a different judge because of the assigned judge's potential bias. B. to move the trial from a state trial court to a federal court in the same state. C. to move the trial from one location to another due to the potential unfairness of a trial in the first location. D. to change the charges that the defendant was originally arrested for and is now on trial for.

Q: In Estate of Weingeroff v. Pilatus Aircraft, the fact that Pilatus had purchased over $1 million in products and services from Pennsylvania suppliers was not sufficient to establish minimum contacts or show purposeful availment in Pennsylvania sufficient to establish personal jurisdiction.

Q: The physical presence of an out-of-state party in a particular state is generally an automatic basis for jurisdiction over the defendant by both that state's courts and the federal trial court within that state.

Q: The United States has adopted the country of origin principle to determine the application of law in international online disputes.

Q: E-mail communications between parties in an ongoing business relationship have been found to create sufficient minimum contacts to establish personal jurisdiction without a separate physical presence, and this rule is the prevailing law throughout the United States.

Q: The effects test has been used by courts to establish personal jurisdiction over out-of-state defendants for both intentional and unintentional acts that have caused harm to in-state plaintiffs.

Q: State long-arm statutes are used to establish subject matter jurisdiction over out-of-state defendants.

Q: Delaware and New Jersey are separated by the Delaware River. New Jersey has started to build a pier extending well into the river, and Delaware claims that the construction will infringe on Delaware's navigational rights. If a lawsuit is filed, it must be filed in either a Delaware or New Jersey state court.

Q: A business entity is considered a person in terms of assessing personal jurisdiction.

Q: According to the Zippo standard for assessing minimal contacts by an out-of-state Internet-based company, it is possible for a passive website to also be considered a site integral to the company's business model.

Q: According to the Zippo standard, any website that is in any way interactive with customers will be sufficient to create personal jurisdiction over a nonresident company.

Q: If an Oregon Corporation sues the Environmental Protection Agency, a federal administrative agency, it may sue in either an Oregon state court or a federal district court located in Oregon.

Q: Minimum contacts in a state need not be shown if an out-of-state corporation's conduct has the reasonably foreseeable potential to cause injurious effects to a forum state plaintiff.

Q: All American taxpayers are allowed to bring any case they want to in federal court at any time.

Q: Kathy and Tom are filing for divorce. Their marital home, which they still live in, is worth $7.5 million and their furniture and other assets are worth more than $25 million. Kathy wants half of everything, but Tom doesn't think she deserves more than 25 percent. They may file in federal court to have their dispute adjudicated.

Q: A state court may not unilaterally declare or decide that proper venue for a case should be in another state.

Q: When a U.S. company conducts business with a foreign company online, U.S. law will automatically apply to the transaction should there be a dispute.

Q: Diversity jurisdiction must be shown to bring an appeal in a state's highest court.

Q: If Nevada sues the federal government over the constitutionality of a new federal statute, because the United States is a party, the suit may be brought either in the state's highest court or in federal court.

Q: The majority of cases filed in the U.S. are filed in state courts.

Q: The U.S. Constitution requires that all state court judges be appointed by the state's governor, subject to the approval of the state's legislature.

Q: If a state appellate court renders a decision on a new issue, that state decision will become precedent for any federal court decisions when the federal court is located within the state and the decided issue is one of state law.

Q: States provide an automatic right to appeal inferior court decisions, usually to the state's trial court.

Q: The highest court in the state is always called that state's Supreme Court.

Q: In recent years, the Supreme Court of the United States has generally accepted only about 10 percent of the petitions for a writ of certiorari made to the Court each year.

Q: Once a federal judge is confirmed and sworn in, he or she may be removed only by death, retirement, or _______.

Q: A court may hear a case if it has jurisdiction over either the subject matter of the dispute or the parties in the case.

Q: A state family court that hears only divorce and child-related matters would be said to have ________ jurisdiction.

Q: A discretionary order issued by the Supreme Court and other federal courts granting a request to argue an appeal is called a _______.

Q: When a Mississippi defendant does business or extensively advertises in Louisiana, the defendant subjects himself or herself to personal jurisdiction in Louisiana based on the concept of _______.

Q: A person with an ownership interest in a business venture is called a _______.

Q: The court's authority over disputes between the parties is called ________ jurisdiction.

Q: Justice of the peace, municipal court, small-claims court, and local district courts are generally referred to as ________ courts.

Q: Congress has provided the state of Ohio $50 million for highway construction and renovation. As a condition, Ohio must award 30 percent of the contracts to firms that are owned by women or minorities. Ohio sues, claiming that such a condition is an intrusion on Ohio's right to seek competitive bids and make the best use of the money. Ohio also asserts that this condition will make it difficult to seek the best-quality companies and that how it allocates the money is purely a state function as long as it uses the money for the purposes intended. How will the court likely decide this dispute?

Q: Name the four-part test established by the court in Central Hudson Gas v. Public Service Commission that subjects government restrictions on commercial speech to a form of intermediate-level scrutiny.

Q: The Due Process Clause is found in: A. the Fifth Amendment only. B. the Fourteenth Amendment only. C. neither the Fifth nor Fourteenth Amendment. D. both the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments.

Q: In Gonzalez v. Raich, when federal law enforcement confiscated and destroyed medicinal marijuana plants, Raich presented each of the following arguments except: A. the plants were cultivated and possessed within state boarders. B. the plants did not enter the stream of commerce. C. there are no enforcement difficulties in distinguishing between marijuana cultivated locally and marijuana grown elsewhere. D. the plants were for personal use, not for commercial use.

Q: Kathy was returning to the United States after a vacation when the Customs Service confiscated some goods she had purchased abroad and brought back with her. The determination of whether the government acted properly and the type of hearing that she must be provided is an analysis of: A. procedural due process. B. substantial due process. C. the Equal Protection Clause. D. the Commerce Clause.

Q: After more than 100 years, the Chicago Cubs have won baseball's World Series. They want a parade down Michigan Street at 10 a.m. on Friday, but the city tells them that the parade will be down Rush Street at noon on Saturday. The city claims that Rush Street on Saturday will provide more safety and convenience for the city's citizens. The Cubs claim a violation of their freedom of speech. If a lawsuit ensues, what standard of review will the court use to resolve the issue? A. rational basis scrutiny B. intermediate-level scrutiny C. strict scrutiny D. no particular form of scrutiny (none is required in this situation)

Q: In State Farm Mutual v. Campbell, the court laid out a three-part analysis for determining the constitutionality of a statute regulating punitive damages. Which of the following is not one of the three criteria specified by the court? A. the degree of reprehensibility of the defendant's misconduct B. the disparity between the actual or potential harm suffered by the plaintiff and the punitive-damage award C. whether the harm resulted from a criminal act or a civil act D. the difference between the punitive damages awarded and the civil penalties authorized or imposed in similar or comparable cases

Q: Generally, constitutional protections do not apply to: A. acts of the federal government. B. acts of state governments. C. acts of administrative agencies. D. acts of privately owned businesses.