If Grandma were to get hit by a magical flying reindeer within the 50 US states, where could Grandpa file a civil suit?
<p>Suppose "Santa" enjoys no special immunity from civil prosecution on any level. One Christmas Eve, he lands in the wrong spot and injures Grandma. Of course, Santa later flees the scene to continue his journey. After the county, state and federal courts reconvene, Grandpa (or his lawyer) gets to work on collecting evidence and filing paperwork for a lawsuit against Santa. On what level(s) will jurisdiction over the case lie?</p>

<p>Based on some quick searching, this would likely be a wrongful death action. I have to pick a state, so I'll pick Nevada.</p>

<p>The first question is what damages could be. I don't know offhand what is typical in wrongful death suits, but this appears to be beyond mere negligence: there was a hit and run involved. I have no trouble believing the claim would reach at least six figures. This is important, because federal diversity jurisdiction only includes lawsuits with over $75,000 at stake. Now, Santa Claus's citizenship matters; if he were stateless it'd be an issue, but he is a <a href="http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2008/12/23/7839591.html">citizen of Canada</a>.</p>

<p>That means that federal court has diversity jurisdiction: because the lawsuit is between a citizen of one state on one side and a foreign citizen on the other (no state has citizens on both sides of the lawsuit), and meets Congress's extra requirements (enough money at stake), it can be in federal court. The way diversity jurisdiction works is that the plaintiff can file in federal court, but if they choose to file in Nevada court then the defendant can <em>remove</em> the case to federal court. Either party can get it into federal court.</p>

<p>Conventional wisdom is that federal court is more defendant-friendly than state court on state law claims. It is likely that if Grandpa files the case in any court in Nevada, the case will end up in the United States District Court for the District of Nevada.</p>

<p>But suppose it is in state court? Most states don't have separate "county court" and "state court" systems; county courts are a thing, but they're a specialized thing and the serious stuff is not in those. A six-figure wrongful death claim won't go in Nevada's equivalent of small claims court. It'd go in Nevada district court, if it's in state courts.</p>

<p>But what about other courts? Grandma was walking home, so it can be assumed she was a Nevada resident. Assuming Grandpa lived with her (which is rather likely), so is he. They then can't sue in any US state <em>other</em> than Nevada without being laughed out of court -- a lawsuit needs to have <em>something</em> to do with where you're suing. The other option is Canada, but such a suit is unlikely.</p>

united-states