The Long Arm of the Law – How Courts Reach Out to Out-of-State Defendants (CIVPRO Long Arm Statutes)

🎙️ Civil Procedure Spotlight: The Long Arm of the Law – How Courts Reach Out to Out-of-State Defendants

In this episode of American Law Café, we unpack long-arm statutes—the state laws that allow courts to “reach out” and assert personal jurisdiction over out-of-state defendants, and the constitutional limits that stop them from going too far.

Here’s what we cover:

• Part 1 – What Are Long-Arm Statutes?
  State laws that let courts pull in defendants beyond their borders—but they can never extend further than the Constitution allows.
• Part 2 – Broad vs. Narrow Statutes:
  • In Tennessee and over half the states, the long-arm statute reaches to the full limits of due process—so the only question is whether jurisdiction is constitutional.
  • In other states, courts apply a two-step test: (1) does the statute authorize jurisdiction, and (2) does due process allow it?
• Part 3 – The Constitutional Limit (International Shoe):
  • Due process requires minimum contacts with the forum.
  • Contacts must be such that jurisdiction does not offend “traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice.”
  • Later cases refine this: World-Wide Volkswagen (foreseeability isn’t enough), Burger King (purposeful availment matters), Asahi (fairness can still defeat jurisdiction).
• Part 4 – Practical Lessons:
  • Long-arm statutes don’t apply if jurisdiction rests on presence (“tag”), consent, waiver, or general jurisdiction (“at home”).
  • Stream of commerce alone isn’t enough—courts require “something more” to show forum targeting.
  • Contracts can create strong jurisdictional ties when performance, communications, or payments occur in the forum.
  • Always analyze Purpose, Quantity, Nature, and Relatedness of contacts.

👉 Takeaway: Long-arm statutes are the gateway, but due process is the outer fence. In Tennessee, the two merge—if it’s constitutional under International Shoe, it’s good under the long-arm.

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 Introductory Music for American Law Cafe. In Jazz Short by moodmode / Vlad Krotov.