Subject Matter Jurisdiction
Civ Pro = Civil Procedure
Subject Matter Jurisdiction
Subject Matter Jurisdiction (SMJ) refers to the court’s ability to hear a type of case. Federal court has limited subject matter jurisdiction and may hear cases involving (1) federal question jurisdiction (FQ) and (2) diversity jurisdiction (DJ). (3) Even if the claim has no independent SMJ, the court may be able to exercise supplemental jurisdiction.
The lack of SMJ is not waived by failing to raise it at trial; it may be raised on appeal for the first time.
Federal District Court must have jurisdiction over each and every claim in the matter.
Federal Question Jurisdiction
Federal courts have jurisdiction over actions arising under federal law. A case arises under federal law if the right or interest has substantial issue of federal law. The federal law at issue must be presented on the face of initial well-pleaded complaint and cannot be based on an anticipated defense.
Diversity Jurisdiction
Federal courts have jurisdiction over actions between citizens of different states where the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000.
"nerve center" is headquater where the corporation’s high level officers direct and control the corporation’s activities
There must be complete diversity, meaning all defendants must be diverse from all plaintiffs. An individual's citizenship is determined by his domicile, i.e. (1) his residence, (2) with intent to remain permanently. A corporation is a citizen of its state of (1) incorporation, and (2) principal place of business under the “nerve center” test.
The amount of controversy is determined by the plaintiff’s good faith claim stated in the complaint. A single plaintiff may aggregate all of his claims against a single defendant (1:1), or joint claims or liabilities with a common undivided interest (joint rights:1 or 1:joint liabilitys) can be aggregated.
Where an injunction is sought, the amount is measured by the value of the performance.
Supplemental Jurisdiction
If a federal court has proper SMJ over one claim (underlying claim), the court may exercise supplemental jurisdiction over additional claims which do not independently satisfy the SMJ independently, but arise from a Common Nucleus of Operative Fact (CNOF) of the underlying claim.
CNOF test is broader than 'same transaction or occurrence' test, therefore any party that would meet the same transaction or occurrence test would meet the CNOF test.
However, if the underlying claim is in diversity, the presence of additional party in the case must not destroy complete diversity.
If 'plaintiff' asserts an additional claim against a third party defendant, supplemental jurisdiction does not apply, and the claim must satisfy independent SMJ (either diversity or federal question jurisdiction).
The court has discretion to deny supplemental jurisdiction over the defendant in some cases, where state law claim (1) is novel or complex, (2) substantially predominate over federal claims, or (3) all federal questions have been dismissed.
Removal
A defendant may remove a case from state court to federal court if (1) all defendants agree to the removal and (2) the federal court would have SMJ over the action. (3) Additionally, a notice of removal must be filed within 30 days of the official service of the first removable document (initial pleading or the documents where the grounds for removal become apparent).
For diversity cases, (4) the defendant must not be a citizen of the forum state (in-state defendant rule). (5) And defendant cannot remove if it is more than one year after the case is filed.
A plaintiff can never remove a case.
Remand
If removal is improper, plaintiff may file a motion to remand to return the case back to the state court.
A remand for lack of SMJ has no time limit. However, for the other lack of removal requirements such as (D's agree, 30d, defendant = forum, 1y in state court in diversity cases), plaintiff must file the motion to remand within 30day of removal.