Federal Government Policy and Business

Supreme Court Continues To Limit The Reach Of America's Courts

Forbes: In an unanimous ruling earlier today, the Supreme Court again defined the reach of American courts in a global economy brought ever closer through the Internet. In doing so, it continued to place limitations on the ability of claimants to bring cases in domestic courts that possess nominal connections to events abroad.

In OBB Personenverkehr AG v. Sachs, an Austrian-owned train crushed a California’s woman’s legs during a tragic accident in Innsbruck. Since the injured party, Carolyn Sachs, had purchased the rail tickets from an American travel agent over the Internet, she filed a lawsuit against the state-owned railway in federal district court in California. By finding that the rail purchase was enough to establish jurisdiction over the case, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals allowed the lawsuit to proceed.

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