Are long arm statutes used for small cases?
In federal court, unless a case implicates federal law, invoking “federal question jurisdiction,” the only way you can sue someone from a foreign state in your own state is if the amount-in-controversy exceeds $75,000. But as the term “long-arm statutes” generally refers to state laws, this is going to depend entirely upon state law and will vary from state to state. Long-arm statutes are grants of jurisdiction. Unless there is a specific provison in the long-arm statute which imposes an amount-in-controversy requirement, it the size of the claim is irrelevant. Long-arm statutes weren’t designed with a particular “size” of case in mind, they were designed to prevent a defendant from avoid liability by crossing state lines. Analyze the statute closely. Some state general trial courts have amount-in-controversy requirements as a general matter, with smaller cases shunted to small claims court. If the long-arm statute doesn’t apply to small claims court, and the case can’t otherwise be br