28 U.S.C. § 1369 — Multiparty, multiforum jurisdiction
submitted 24 years ago by Pub. L. 107-273 to r/title-28-JUDICIARY-AND-JUDICIAL-PROCEDURE · 487 words · no verdicts yet
This section gives district courts jurisdiction over certain large, single-accident cases with minimal diversity. It sets a local-case exception, definitions, intervention rights, and a notice duty.
(a) District* courts have original jurisdiction over a civil action involving minimal diversity between opposing parties that arises from one accident in which at least 75 natural persons died at one distinct location, if (1) a defendant lives in one State and a substantial part of the accident occurred in another State or location; (2) any two defendants live in different States; or (3) substantial parts occurred in different States. (b) The court must abstain if most plaintiffs are citizens of one State, the primary defendants are also citizens of that State, and the claims will mainly be governed by that State’s law. (c) For this section: (1) minimal diversity exists when one party is a State citizen and an opposing party is a citizen of another State, a foreign-state citizen or subject, or a foreign state defined in section 1603(a); (2) a corporation is a citizen of each State and foreign state where incorporated or principally based, and a resident of each State where incorporated, licensed to do business, or doing business; (3) “injury” means (A) physical harm to a natural person or (B) physical damage to or destruction of tangible property, but only if (A) also exists; (4) “accident” means a sudden accident, or a natural event ending in an accident, causing at least 75 natural persons to die at one distinct location; and (5) “State” includes the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and United States territories and possessions. This section does not otherwise define the quoted terms. (d) In a district-court action that is or could have been brought in whole or part under this section, anyone with a claim arising from the accident may intervene as a plaintiff, even if that person could not originally have brought a district-court action. (e) A district court* with a pending action under this section must promptly notify the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation.
The district* courts shall have original jurisdiction of any civil action involving minimal diversity between adverse parties that arises from a single accident, where at least 75 natural persons have died in the accident at a discrete location, if—
a defendant resides in a State and a substantial part of the accident took place in another State or other location, regardless of whether that defendant is also a resident of the State where a substantial part of the accident took place;
any two defendants reside in different States, regardless of whether such defendants are also residents of the same State or States; or
substantial parts of the accident took place in different States.
The district court* shall abstain from hearing any civil action described in subsection (a) in which—
the substantial majority of all plaintiffs are citizens of a single State of which the primary defendants are also citizens; and
the claims asserted will be governed primarily by the laws of that State.
For purposes of this section—
minimal diversity exists between adverse parties if any party is a citizen of a State and any adverse party is a citizen of another State, a citizen or subject of a foreign state, or a foreign state as defined in section 1603(a) of this title;
a corporation is deemed to be a citizen of any State, and a citizen or subject of any foreign state, in which it is incorporated or has its principal place of business, and is deemed to be a resident of any State in which it is incorporated or licensed to do business or is doing business;
the term “injury” means—
physical harm to a natural person; and
physical damage to or destruction of tangible property, but only if physical harm described in subparagraph (A) exists;
the term “accident” means a sudden accident, or a natural event culminating in an accident, that results in death incurred at a discrete location by at least 75 natural persons; and
the term “State” includes the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and any territory or possession of the United States.
In any action in a district court which is or could have been brought, in whole or in part, under this section, any person with a claim arising from the accident described in subsection (a) shall be permitted to intervene as a party plaintiff in the action, even if that person could not have brought an action in a district court as an original matter.
A district court in which an action under this section is pending shall promptly notify the judicial panel on multidistrict litigation of the pendency of the action.
Source credit: (Added Pub. L. 107–273, div. C, title I, § 11020(b)(1)(A), Nov. 2, 2002, 116 Stat. 1826.)
- 2002Enacted · Pub. L. 107-273 · 116 Stat. 1826
A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 107-273 on 2002-11-02.
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