Civil Procedure Glossary of Terms:

Jurisdiction: the power to declare the law.

Judicial Jurisdiction: the power of a court to render judgment that other courts
and government agencies will recognize and enforce.

Personal Jurisdiction: the power of a given court to issue a judgment that is
binding on a person or affects his property.

Subject Matter Jurisdiction: the power of federal courts (as opposed to state) to
decide certain kinds of cases.

Writ of Execution: issued by the court, which will authorize the sheriff to seize
any property belonging to the defendant and sell it (typically through an
auction) and give the resulting money to the plaintiff (up to the amount of the
judgment.

Sheriffs Deed: when a writ of execution is issued, the sheriff will place the
property up for sale and the buy will receive a sheriffs deed as evidence of title.

Writ of Attachment: a writ ordering legal seizure of property or of a person.

Constructive: fictional or pretend.

Attachment: legal term for an officially sanctioned seizure of property.
o Ie: real estate, cars, and other property may be attached.
o Sometimes attachment means literal seizure; other times it means
posting notices on property or on records of title so that prospective
buyers know it cannot be sold.

In Personam Jurisdiction: for personal jurisdiction, there must be power over the
individual or corporate defendant, and the exercise of jurisdiction must not be
unreasonable. There are several recognized bases of power:
o General Jurisdiction. Both presence and domicile of defendant give power
to adjudicate any personal claim.
o Specific Jurisdiction. The lesser contacts of consent and certain forum-
directed acts (such as sufficiently substantial tortious acts, business
activity, acts related to property, and litigating acts) by defendant give
power to adjudicate only those personal claims related to the contacts.

In Rem Jurisdiction: power over the persons property.
o Pure In Rem: jurisdiction in rem can result in a judgment affecting the
interests of all persons in a designated thing. To satisfy the power test,
such an action normally must be brought where the thing is.
Unreasonableness will then be the key test.
Quasi In Rem Jurisdiction: power to settle personal dispute between parties but
only up to the value of property located in the state.
o Quasi In Rem Type 1: this variety of jurisdiction quasi in rem can result in
a judgment affecting only the interests of particular persons in a
designated thing, and may be invoked by a plaintiff seeking to establish a
pre-existing interest in the thing as against the defendants interest. To
satisfy the power test, such an action normally must be brought where
the thing is. Unreasonable- ness will then be the key test.
o Quasi In Rem Type 2: this variety of jurisdiction quasi in rem can result in
a judgment affecting only the interests of particular persons in a
designated thing, and may be invoked by a plaintiff seeking to apply the
defendants property to the satisfaction of a claim against defendant that
is unrelated to the property. To satisfy the power test, such an action
normally must be brought where the thing is. Unreasonableness will then
be the key test, but is here so difficult to satisfy that such jurisdiction is
available only in rather special situations.

Full Faith & Credit Clause: requires judgments to be respected and enforced in
other states only if the court rendering judgment in the first instance had
jurisdiction.

Collateral Attack: defendant files second suit to challenge the validity of the
judgment in the first suit (as opposed to filing an appeal in the first suit). A
collateral attack can only challenge the jurisdiction of court to decide the
controversy.

Special Appearance: appearance for the limited purpose of challenging the
jurisdiction.

Diversity Jurisdiction: a federal court's exercise of authority over a case involving
parties who are citizens of different states and an amount in controversy greater
than a statutory minimum.

Status Exception: every state has the power to determine the civil status of their
inhabitants.

Waiver of Jurisdiction: making any pre-answer motion that omits a defense or
personal jurisdiction.

Substituted Service: service other than personal service in the forum state.

Domicile: Where one lives with intent to remain (you can only have one domicile
at a time).