Weaving Jurisdiction From the Web

Publication Source: New York Law Journal

”As technological progress has increased the flow of commerce between States, the need for jurisdiction over nonresidents has undergone a similar increase.” Little did he know how prophetic his words in Hanson v. Denckla, 357 U.S. 235, 250-51, would be when Chief Justice Earl Warren observed in 1958 that the parameters of personal jurisdiction must adapt and evolve with technological advances. While Justice Warren was commenting on the advances of communication and transportation in 1950s America, courts continue to grapple with jurisdictional issues relating to the 'technological progress' of the e-age in the 21st century.

An instructive body of federal case law has already developed concerning the circumstances under which personal jurisdiction may be derived from an out-of-state defendant's maintenance and operation of a Web site. As shown by the recent decision of Eastern District Judge Arthur D. Spatt in ISI Brands, Inc. v. KCC International, Inc., 2006 WL 2989032 (Oct. 19, 2006), courts are now resolving with relative comfort and ease the thorny issues of personal jurisdiction arising from and in connection with interstate commerce through the Internet.

In ISI, Judge Spatt was asked to determine whether the Eastern District of New York was empowered to exercise jurisdiction over a company located in Tampa, Fla., with no offices, telephones or sales personnel in New York but which allegedly sold products across the country through its Web site.

Read the full article in the attached PDF.

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Kevin Schlosser is a Shareholder at Meyer, Suozzi, English & Klein, P.C., where he is Chair of the Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution Department which has a full roster of available private judges from virtually all disciplines of law. Mr. Schlosser also authors the popular blog, “New York Fraud Claims,” which analyzes the latest developments concerning civil fraud claims under New York law.

Reprinted with permission by the New York Law Journal.