Abstract
On multiple occasions, I have advocated for a revision to Rule 4(k) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure that would disconnect personal jurisdiction in federal courts from the jurisdictional limits of their respective host states—to no avail. In this Essay, I will review—one final time—my argument for nationwide personal jurisdiction in the federal courts, recount my (failed) attempt to persuade the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules to embrace my view, and reflect on what lessons may be drawn from the experience regarding the civil rulemaking process. My aim is to prompt discussion around potential rulemaking reforms and to equip future would-be reformers with insights that might facilitate some degree of success.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2022
Publication Information
73 Alabama Law Review 607-620 (2022)
Repository Citation
Spencer, A. Benjamin, "Rule 4(K), Nationwide Personal Jurisdiction, and the Civil Rules Advisory Committee: Lessons from Attempted Reform" (2022). Faculty Publications. 2069.
https://scholarship.law.wm.edu/facpubs/2069
Included in
Civil Procedure Commons, Courts Commons, Jurisdiction Commons
Comments
Written for the Symposium Ten Years of the Supreme Court’s Personal Jurisdiction Revival (2021) at Alabama Law School.