Legal Question in Civil Rights Law in California

Re: Can I sue someone in another state?

I had a client who said he was going to introduce me to his friend Ben Franklin, but he never did :(

Seriously, you can sue anybody in a California court, and you can serve them in any other state than California by certified mail, but it is a defense to the lawsuit that the defendant lacks 'minimum contacts' with the state such that a California court would have 'personal jurisdiction' over him. In law school we spent weeks discussing a case on this topic called International Shoe. Philadelphia Dude could respond to your lawsuit by filing a Motion to Quash for lack of personal jurisdiction.

If he responds to the lawsuit but fails to raise Personal Jurisdiction as a defense, you could move forward with your lawsuit in the California courts.

On the other hand, if he doesn't respond to the lawsuit, he could move to vacate the resulting default judgment years down the road on the grounds of lack of personal jurisdiction.

Or, on the other other hand, if he instead hires a Philadelphia lawyer, the lawyer could move to have the case transferred to a federal court, or even moved to Philadelphia, where you yourself would have to hire a Philadelphia lawyer and rack up lots of frequent flier miles and hourly lawyer bills in order to continue with the lawsuit.

The moral of this little story is maybe you can, and maybe you can't, and Home Court Advantage is just as important in law as in basketball.

Next time have a lawyer draft your client contracts; and put in a clause that any lawsuits have to be filed and heard in Pasadena, California under California law.