C. A statute providing for jurisdiction over a non-resident defendant.
Listen to pronunciationLegal Definition - A statute providing for jurisdiction over a non-resident defendant who had contacts with the territory where the statute is in effect. Black's Law Dictionary® Eighth Edition © 2004
This is important because the long-arm statute is what a U.S. court uses to get jurisdiction over a foreign person or company. In the following case a New York court uses a Blackberry email message to establish contact with New York in order to get jurisdiction over someone from out of state.
Recent Usage - "New York's traditionally elastic interpretation of its long-arm jurisdiction in commercial disputes was extended Tuesday to e-mails and instant messages for the first time in a bellwether opinion by the Court of Appeals. In a unanimous decision, the court said that commercial entities' use of e-mail and instant messaging to 'project themselves into New York to conduct business transactions' is covered by the long-arm provisions in the Civil Practice Law and Rules in the same way and for the same reasons that telephonic negotiations are covered. '[W]hen the requirements of due process are met ... a sophisticated institutional trader knowingly entering our state -- whether electronically or otherwise -- to negotiate and conclude a substantial transaction is within the embrace of the New York long-arm statute,' Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye wrote in Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. v. Montana Board of Investments, 71. Court records show that on the morning of March 25, 2002, an official with Deutsche Bank contacted an official in Montana about a possible bond swap. The banker contacted the Montana Board of Investments through the Bloomberg Messaging System, an instant-messaging service, and asked whether the government agency was interested in swapping its Pennzoil-Quaker State 2009 bonds for Deutsche Bank's Toys R Us bonds, or selling the Pennzoil bonds for a stated price. The official in Montana said he was not interested, and the banker in New York signed off with a simple 'THX' (thanks). About 10 minutes later, the Montana official reconsidered and sent the banker a new instant message and negotiated a trade. That evening, Shell Oil announced that it had agreed to acquire Pennzoil-Quaker State, potentially increasing the value of the bonds. The next day, the Montana Board advised Deutsche Bank that it would not honor the agreement because it suspected it was predicated on 'unethical and probably illegal' inside information. Deutsche Bank then bought the Pennzoil bonds elsewhere, but paid $1.6 million more than it would have paid Montana. It then brought an action in Manhattan Supreme Court for breach of contract. Supreme Court dismissed the complaint, holding that Deutsche Bank could not establish that New York retained jurisdiction. The Appellate Division, 1st Department, reversed in an opinion affirmed Tuesday. All seven judges of the Court of Appeals agreed that the electronic communication established long-arm jurisdiction, and that New York had no need to yield to a Montana statute that would vest exclusive jurisdiction in that state's district courts. 'We continue to hold that where, as here, a lawsuit arises from a commercial transaction in which another state, or its agent, has knowingly projected itself into New York to take advantage of our financial markets, New York courts should not dismiss the action as a matter of comity,' Kaye wrote. John Caher New York Law Journal 06-07-2006