Jurisdiction and Venue

The three questions every lawsuit has to answer before its merits can be heard - whether the court has power over this kind of case (subject-matter jurisdiction), power over this defendant (personal jurisdiction), and whether this is the right place within the system to bring it (venue) - what each requires, how each is challenged, and why a judgment entered without jurisdiction is void.

Looking for a lawyer rather than a definition? Skip to the state-by-state list of law firms for this.

What it means

Subject-matter jurisdiction is a court's authority to hear a category of case. State courts of general jurisdiction can hear almost anything; specialized state courts (probate, family, small claims, tax) are limited to their subject and often by amount. Federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction: they can hear a case only if Congress has authorized it, principally cases arising under federal law and cases between citizens of different states (or a citizen and a foreign party) where the amount in controversy exceeds a threshold, with complete diversity required - no plaintiff may share a state of citizenship with any defendant. A defendant sued in state court on a claim the federal courts could hear may remove the case to federal court within a fixed period, subject to the rule that a diversity case cannot be removed if any defendant is a citizen of the forum state. Subject-matter jurisdiction cannot be conferred by consent or waived; the court must raise it on its own, at any stage, and a judgment entered without it is void.

Personal jurisdiction is the court's power over the particular defendant, and it is a constitutional limit rooted in due process as well as a matter of each state's long-arm statute. A court has general jurisdiction over a defendant who is "at home" in the state - an individual domiciled there, a corporation incorporated or headquartered there - for any claim whatever. Otherwise it has specific jurisdiction only if the defendant purposefully directed activities at the state and the claim arises out of or relates to those activities, so that being sued there is fair: selling products into the state, contracting with a resident to perform there, committing a tort there, or maintaining an interactive commercial presence aimed at its residents. A defendant may also be subject to jurisdiction by consent, by a forum-selection clause, by registering to do business where the statute so provides, or by being served while physically present in the state. Unlike subject-matter jurisdiction, the personal-jurisdiction objection is waived if not raised in the defendant's first response.

Venue is the question of which court within a system is the proper place for the case - which county in a state, which district in the federal system - and is set by statute, usually the district where a defendant resides or where a substantial part of the events occurred, with special rules for real property, corporations and particular statutes. Improper venue is a waivable objection; even where venue is proper, a court may transfer the case to another district for the convenience of parties and witnesses, or dismiss it under forum non conveniens in favor of a court in another country. Forum-selection clauses in contracts are generally enforced and can make an otherwise proper venue improper as between the parties. A defendant who wants to contest jurisdiction may appear specially or, in federal court, simply raise the defense by motion without conceding anything; a defendant who ignores the suit entirely and lets a default judgment enter may attack it later for want of jurisdiction, but at the price of having no defense on the merits if the attack fails.

Where this comes from

When people hire a lawyer for this

Jurisdiction and venue decide where a case will be fought, under which procedure and before which jury pool, and that often matters as much as the merits. A defendant sued far from home - an out-of-state business, a person whose only contact with the forum was a website or a single shipment - should have a lawyer evaluate a jurisdiction motion before doing anything that could waive it, including filing a general answer. Plaintiffs choosing between state and federal court, or between counties, are making a strategic decision about judges, timelines and remedies, and the choice is difficult to reverse. Anyone signing a commercial contract should read the forum-selection clause as the term that decides where they will have to sue or be sued.

Worried about the cost? A lawyer can be hired for one part of a case only (limited-scope representation), may be paid from what a claim recovers (contingency fee), or may be free through a pro bono program or legal aid; a court can also waive its own filing fees.

Find a lawyer for this in your state

Choose your state to see law firms for this in the city where we list the most; your city may be under “other cities”, A to Z.

• Alabama (Birmingham)
  +1 other city

  • Montgomery
• Alaska (Anchorage)
• Arizona (Chandler)
  +6 other cities

  • Gilbert
  • Glendale
  • Mesa
  • Phoenix
  • Scottsdale
  • Tucson
• Arkansas (Little Rock)
• California (Fremont)
  +19 other cities

  • Anaheim
  • Bakersfield
  • Chula Vista
  • Fontana
  • Irvine
  • Modesto
  • Oakland
  • Riverside
  • San Bernardino
  • San Francisco
  • Santa Ana
  • Stockton
  • and 7 more with fewer listed firms
• Colorado (Denver)
  +2 other cities

  • Aurora
  • Colorado Springs
• Connecticut (Bridgeport)
• Delaware (Wilmington)
• District of Columbia (Washington)
• Florida (Hialeah)
  +5 other cities

  • Jacksonville
  • Miami
  • Orlando
  • St Petersburg
  • Tampa
• Georgia (Atlanta)
• Hawaii (Honolulu)
• Idaho (Boise)
• Illinois (Chicago)
  +1 other city

  • Aurora
• Indiana (Indianapolis)
  +1 other city

  • Fort Wayne
• Iowa (Des Moines)
• Kansas (Kansas City)
  +1 other city

  • Wichita
• Kentucky (Lexington)
  +1 other city

  • Louisville
• Louisiana (Baton Rouge)
  +2 other cities

  • New Orleans
  • Shreveport
• Maine (Portland)
• Maryland (Baltimore)
• Massachusetts (Boston)
• Michigan (Detroit)
• Minnesota (Saint Paul)
  +1 other city

  • Minneapolis
• Mississippi (Jackson)
• Missouri (Kansas City)
  +1 other city

  • St. Louis
• Montana (Billings)
• Nebraska (Lincoln)
  +1 other city

  • Omaha
• Nevada (Henderson)
  +3 other cities

  • Las Vegas
  • North Las Vegas
  • Reno
• New Hampshire (Manchester)
• New Jersey (Newark)
  +1 other city

  • Jersey City
• New Mexico (Albuquerque)
• New York (New York City)
  +2 other cities

  • Buffalo
  • Rochester
• North Carolina (Charlotte)
  +5 other cities

  • Durham
  • Fayetteville
  • Greensboro
  • Raleigh
  • Winston-Salem
• North Dakota (Fargo)
• Ohio (Columbus)
  +3 other cities

  • Cincinnati
  • Cleveland
  • Toledo
• Oklahoma (Oklahoma City)
  +1 other city

  • Tulsa
• Oregon (Portland)
• Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh)
  +1 other city

  • Philadelphia
• Rhode Island (Providence)
• South Carolina (Columbia)
• South Dakota (Sioux Falls)
• Tennessee (Nashville)
  +1 other city

  • Memphis
• Texas (San Antonio)
  +12 other cities

  • Arlington
  • Austin
  • Corpus Christi
  • Dallas
  • El Paso
  • Fort Worth
  • Garland
  • Houston
  • Irving
  • Laredo
  • Lubbock
  • Plano
• Utah (Salt Lake City)
• Vermont (Burlington)
• Virginia (Norfolk)
  +3 other cities

  • Chesapeake
  • Richmond
  • Virginia Beach
• Washington (Seattle)
  +2 other cities

  • Spokane
  • Tacoma
• West Virginia (Charleston)
• Wisconsin (Madison)
  +1 other city

  • Milwaukee
• Wyoming (Cheyenne)

Related terms

Other entries in the same area of law, each written from the same primary sources.

• AppealThe review of a trial court's decision by a higher court - what can be appealed and when (the final-judgment rule and its exceptions), the notice of appeal and why missing it is fatal, what "standard of review" means and why most appeals are lost on it, preserving error at trial, the record and briefs, and what an appellate court can and cannot do with the result.
• Attorney-Client Privilege and Work ProductThe two protections that keep what a client tells a lawyer, and what a lawyer prepares for a case, from being forced into evidence - what the privilege covers and what it does not, who holds it and how it is waived, the crime-fraud exception, the separate and narrower work-product doctrine, and how each is asserted in discovery.
• Burden of Proof (Standards of Proof)Who has to prove what, and how convincingly, before a court will rule for them - the difference between the burden of production and the burden of persuasion, the three standards (preponderance of the evidence, clear and convincing evidence, beyond a reasonable doubt) and where each applies, presumptions that shift the burden, and why the burden decides cases where the evidence is in balance.
• Complaint and Answer (Pleadings)The documents that start a civil case and frame what it is about - what a complaint must contain, how a defendant answers it, what an admission, denial and affirmative defense each do, counterclaims and cross-claims, and what happens when a pleading is late, deficient or needs to be amended.
• Contempt of CourtThe court's power to punish disobedience of its own orders - the mechanism that makes a court order more than a piece of paper.
• Court Fee Waiver (In Forma Pauperis)How a person who cannot afford court filing fees asks the court to excuse them - the federal and state procedures, who usually qualifies, and what a waiver does not cover.
• Default JudgmentA judgment entered because the person sued did not respond in time - the way most consumer debt lawsuits actually end.
• DepositionSworn, recorded, out-of-court questioning of a witness by the opposing lawyer, before any trial.
• DiscoveryThe pre-trial process in which each side must hand over relevant evidence to the other.
• Expert Witness (Daubert and Frye)A witness allowed to give opinions rather than only facts because of specialized knowledge - who qualifies, the gatekeeping test a judge applies to the reliability of the method (Daubert in federal court and most states, Frye in the rest), the written report and deposition that precede trial, the difference between a retained expert and a treating professional, and why a case can be lost when its expert is excluded.
• Fee Agreement and RetainerThe engagement letter that sets what a lawyer will do and how they are paid - hourly, flat or contingent fees, retainers held in trust, costs, and what to do about a fee dispute.
• Injunction and Temporary Restraining OrderThe court orders that require a party to do or stop doing something rather than pay money - the three stages (temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction, permanent injunction), the four-factor test for emergency relief, the bond the applicant must post, how an order is enforced through contempt, and why a violated order is obeyed first and challenged second.
• Limited-Scope Representation (Unbundled Legal Services)Hiring a lawyer for one defined part of a legal matter - advice, drafting a document, or a single hearing - instead of the whole case, and the written agreement that sets the boundary.
• Mediation and ArbitrationTwo ways of resolving a dispute outside a trial that are constantly confused - one produces an agreement you can walk away from, the other a decision you generally cannot appeal.
• Motion to DismissA request to end a case at the outset on the basis that, even if everything alleged is true, it does not amount to a legal claim.
• Pro Bono Legal HelpFree legal work by volunteer lawyers - what the professional rules ask of lawyers, how people of limited means are matched with a volunteer, and why it is not the same as legal aid.
• Release and Settlement AgreementThe document that ends a claim by giving up the right to bring it - normally final, and normally broader than people expect.
• Representing Yourself (Pro Se)The right to conduct your own case without a lawyer - available in almost every civil court, and held to almost the same standards as a lawyer.
• Res Judicata and Collateral Estoppel (Preclusion)The rules that stop a dispute from being litigated twice - claim preclusion, which bars a second suit on a claim that was or could have been decided, and issue preclusion, which bars re-arguing a specific issue actually decided, the elements of each, who is bound, the exceptions, and why "could have been raised" is the part that surprises people.
• Service of ProcessThe formal delivery of court papers that gives a court power over the person sued - and the step whose failure undoes more judgments than any other.
• Small Claims CourtA simplified court for lower-value disputes, designed to be used without a lawyer - and in some states lawyers are not allowed in it at all.
• Statute of LimitationsA deadline, set by statute, after which a legal claim can no longer be brought at all.
• SubpoenaA court-backed order to give evidence or hand over documents - enforceable against people who are not parties to the case at all.
• Summary JudgmentA ruling that decides a case, or part of one, without a trial because the essential facts are not genuinely in dispute.

« All glossary terms