Judge Weinstein on Personal Jurisdiction in Mass Tort Cases: A Critique
67 Pages Posted: 28 Sep 2004 Last revised: 31 Mar 2014
Abstract
Judge Jack B. Weinstein, who has adjudicated numerous mass tort cases, has proposed and used a new approach to personal jurisdiction in mass tort cases. He has declared: As for federal constitutional limits on the exercise of personal jurisdiction by a state or federal court, there should be none except those of reasonable forum (venue) and a rational state interest in the litigation. In this article, I examine the constitutionality of Judge Weinstein's jurisdictional rule, finding it to be unconstitutional under the due process clause. Instead, I propose a rule for jurisdiction in mass tort cases that allows more defendants to be brought into mass tort cases than under present rules, without violating the due process clause.
Keywords: personal jurisdiction, mass torts
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation