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Acquiring In Personam Jurisdiction In Federal Question Cases: Procedural Frustration Under Federal Rule Of Civil Procedure 4, Marilyn Berger

Faculty Articles

With the adoption of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure in 1938, Congress finally attempted to provide a uniform standard for exercising personal jurisdiction in federal courts. Despite that attempt, there is currently no uniform method for acquiring personal jurisdiction in federal question cases. A contributing factor to the lack of uniformity is Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4. This article calls for a uniform personal jurisdiction standard in federal question cases. In so doing, it examines the three ways to acquire personal jurisdiction under Rule 4 and evaluates the adequacy of each method. Because some federal courts rely on …