Venue (law)

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Venue (law)

Venue is the location where a case is heard. In the United States

United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
, the venue is either a county (for cases in state court) or a district or division (for cases in federal court). Venue deals with locality of a lawsuit

Lawsuit

In law, a lawsuit is a civil action brought before a court in which the party commencing the action, called the plaintiff, seeks a legal remedy or equitable remedy....
, that is, with questions of which court

Court

A court is a body, often a government institution, with the authority to adjudication legal disputes and dispense private law, criminal justice, or administrative law justice in accordance with rules of law....
or courts with proper jurisdiction

Jurisdiction

Legal case

A legal case is a dispute between opposing parties resolved by a court, or by some equivalent legal process. A legal case may be either Civil law or criminal law.There is a defendant and an accuser....
can only be brought in a certain venue. For instance, in federal diversity

Diversity jurisdiction

In United States law, diversity jurisdiction is a concept used in civil procedure to refer to the situation in which a U.S. United States district court has subject matter jurisdiction to hear a civil case because the parties are "diverse" in citizenship, which generally indicates that they are citizens of different U.S....
cases, the venue can only be (1) the district where any defendant resides if all defendants reside in the same state, (2) the district where a substantial part of the events giving rise to the claim occurred, or (3) the district in which any defendant is subject to personal jurisdiction if there is no district in which the claim can otherwise be brought .

Venue is a concept distinct from jurisdiction

Jurisdiction

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Encyclopedia

Venue is the location where a case is heard. In the United States

United States

Lawsuit

Court

Jurisdiction

Legal case

Diversity jurisdiction

Jurisdiction

In law, jurisdiction is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted legal body or to a political leader to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area of responsibility....
, which focuses on the authority of a court to hear a particular case. Venue is concerned with the geographical location of the court where a lawsuit is commenced. However, unlike personal jurisdiction, there is no constitutional requirement for proper venue in order to have a valid judgment

Judgment

A judgment , in a legal context, is synonymous with the formal decision made by a court following a lawsuit. At the same time the court may also make a range of court orders, such as imposing a sentence upon a Guilt y defendant in a Criminal law matter, or providing a Legal remedy for the plaintiff in a civil law matter....
.

The general venue statute for United States federal courts

United States federal courts

The United States federal courts comprises the Judiciary of government organized under the United States Constitution and Law of the United States of the federal government of the United States....
is with special rules listed in §§ 1392-1413. Venue can be transferred from one federal district to another . A case can also be removed

Removal jurisdiction

In the United States, removal jurisdiction refers to the right of a defendant to move a lawsuit filed in state court to the Federal district court of the original court's district....
from a state court to a federal court. Finally, a case may be dismissed because its venue is harshly "unfair" to one or more parties under a doctrine called forum non conveniens
Forum non conveniens

Forum non conveniens is a discretionary power of mostly common law courts to refuse to hear a proceeding that has been brought before it. The courts will refuse to take jurisdiction over matters where there is a more appropriate forum available to the parties....
, often used in cases where the events took place in a foreign country such as Piper Aircraft Co. v. Reyno
Piper Aircraft Co. v. Reyno

Piper Aircraft Co. v. Reyno, was a case decided by the United States Supreme Court, in which the court considered the lower court's application of its power of forum non conveniens....
, .

Defendants can waive venue at the time of trial (Neirbo Co. v. Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp., ) or before a claim even arises through contract, such as through a forum selection clause

Forum selection clause

A forum selection clause in a contract with a Conflict of Laws element allows the parties to agree that any litigation resulting from that contract will be initiated in a specific forum....
(Carnival Cruise Lines, Inc. v. Shute
Carnival Cruise Lines, Inc. v. Shute

Carnival Cruise Lines, Inc. v. Shute, Case citation , was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that United States federal courts will enforce forum selection clauses so long as the clause is not unreasonably burdensome to the party seeking to escape it....
, ).

Venue (law)

See also