US Civil Procedure/Jurisdiction

State courts are courts of general jurisdiction, meaning that they can hear most cases with few limits.

Federal courts have two forms of jurisdiction: general and specific. General jurisdiction is present when the defendant is sued in their home state or, when the defendant is a corporation, their state of incorporation or principal place of business. Specific jurisdiction is present in all other cases, in which jurisdiction is dependent upon the defendant's interactions or contacts with the forum state.

Courts must have both subject-matter jurisdiction and personal jurisdiction in order to have jurisdiction over a case. A court has personal jurisdiction if it has jurisdiction over the parties. A court has subject-matter jurisdiction if it has jurisdiction over particular type of matter involved in the case.

A short list of the type of claims that can be heard in federal court because of subject-matter jurisdiction: copyright claims, civil rights claims, bankruptcy cases, and admiralty claims.