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

Fruehwald, Edwin S., Judge Weinstein on Personal Jurisdiction in Mass Tort Cases: A Critique. Tennessee Law Review, Vol. 70, No. 4, p. 1047, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=597101

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