Jurisdiction and the Internet: CivPro meets the Web

Please note that this post is from 2007. Evaluate with care and in light of later events.

Brett Trout (of Blawg IT) writes in “Internet Jurisdiction: Win the Battle, Win the War“:

Internet law opens up more jurisdictional possibilities than probably any other area of the law. Even if the other side may have a better potential position on the issue of jurisdiction, I have had defendants unintentionally and irreparably destroy that position through tactical error. While the law allows remedy for many errors, waiving personal jurisdiction is not one of them. A big mistake like that in a small Internet lawsuit means it is time to get out the checkbook.

As a first-year law student, I sometimes forget that the “black-letter law” we’re learning in basic classes like CivPro (like personal jurisdiction) are not as settled as they may sometimes appear. (See also: “Civil Procedure” in my Notes from Law School blog.)