Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Pennsylvania

Re: Jurisdiction for internet sales

1. It's a complicated question. If this is the only deal you've made in PA, & you don't advertise or otherwise do business in PA, it's likely that PA does not have jurisdiction over you. However, if you don't advise the court of its lack of jurisdiction, & you do not enter a defense, it's likely that a default judgment will be entered against you. 2. If a PA judgment is entered against you, & collection activities are started in your state, you will be able to defend on the basis of lack of PA jurisdiction. However, you will proabably need an attorney in OK to handle it, & it will proabably cost you more than if you defended in PA. So as a practical matter, my advice is to hire a PA lawyer to defend on the basis of lack of jurisdiction, which if sucessful will require the plaintiff to file a law suit in OK. My office is in suburban Phila, & I practice in Phila on a frequent basis. I would be glad to assist you. If you have an interest please contact me so that we can discuss this in detail. Good luck!!

Re: Jurisdiction for internet sales

The issue of jurisdiction is complicated, depending on the situation.

If you do not directly advertise in PA, don't do business in PA and this is the only sale you made in PA, then there is probably not jurisdiction here.

However, in order to object to jurisdiction, you have to "appear" either in person or through a lawyer in the Court in PA to raise that issue.

If you don't do that, it's likely that a default judgment will be entered against you, which can then be transferred and executed in Oklahoma.

At that time, you can defend the activities in Oklahoma to execute the judgment on the basis that the Court in PA had no jurisdiction.

You have a number of choices. You can do nothing and wait until the judgment gets to Oklahoma and defend it then, but this may be more complicated and more expensive. Or, you can defend the suit in PA on the basis of lack of jurisdiction and, if successful, this will require the woman to travel to Oklahoma to file a suit, which she may or may not do. If the jurisdictional objection is not sustained here, though, you will have to defend it here on the merits, and then ask the Oklahoma courts not to honor it because of a lack of jurisdiction.

I am not near the Philadelphia area, (I'm closer to Pittsburgh), however, I do know a very good lawyer in Oklahoma that I would recommend if it turns out you need help there.

Email me if you have any further questions.