Special appearance

Special appearance

A special appearance is a term used in the United States law of civil procedure to describe a civil defendant's appearance in the court of another state solely to dispute the personal jurisdiction of the court over that defendant. Prior to the advent of this procedure, defendants had to either appear in the other state's court to defend the case on the merits, or not show up in court at all, and then mount a collateral attack on any judgment rendered against them, when the plaintiff came to the defendant's state to collect on the judgment. In a legal catch-22, if the defendant appeared solely to contest jurisdiction, the court would then be permitted to assert jurisdiction based on the defendant's presence.

In response to the apparent inequity presented by this situation, most states have passed statutes permitting the defendant to make a special appearance in the courts of the state to contest jurisdiction, without further subjecting themselves to the jurisdiction of the court. The equivalent of such an appearance is possible in U.S. federal courts, for the defendant may make a motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction. Where a special appearance is permitted, the term general appearance is used in contrast for the normal type of appearance in court.

See also

* Limited appearance
* Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
* International Shoe v. Washington


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • special appearance — n: an appearance by a party in court for the sole purpose of challenging the court s assertion of personal jurisdiction over the party compare general appearance ◇ Under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the rules of states that have… …   Law dictionary

  • special appearance — An appearance for the sole purpose of objecting to the jurisdiction of the court, not operating as a submission of defendant s person to the jurisdiction of the court. Re Blalock, 233 NC 493, 64 SE2d 848, 25 ALR2d 818. An appearance testing the… …   Ballentine's law dictionary

  • special appearance — noun : an appearance by a party in court for the sole purpose of attacking the jurisdiction of the court (as for lack of effective service or lack of power to adjudge the cause) …   Useful english dictionary

  • appearance — ap·pear·ance n 1: the presentation of oneself in court as a party to or as an attorney for a party to a lawsuit; also: a document filed in court by an attorney declaring his or her representation of a party to a lawsuit see also general… …   Law dictionary

  • special — spe·cial adj 1: distinguished by some unusual quality special circumstances justifying an award of attorney s fees 2: relating to a single thing or class of things: having an individual character or trait owed them a special duty not owed to the… …   Law dictionary

  • appearance — A coming into court as party to a suit, either in person or by attorney, whether as plaintiff or defendant. The formal proceeding by which a defendant submits himself to the jurisdiction of the court. The voluntary submission to a court s… …   Black's law dictionary

  • appearance — A coming into court as party to a suit, either in person or by attorney, whether as plaintiff or defendant. The formal proceeding by which a defendant submits himself to the jurisdiction of the court. The voluntary submission to a court s… …   Black's law dictionary

  • special — Relating to or designating a species, kind, individual, thing, or sort; designed for a particular purpose; confined to a particular purpose, object, person, or class. Unusual, extraordinary. as to special acceptance special administration special …   Black's law dictionary

  • appearance — An outward manifestation. The first act of a defendant in court, being the overt act by which he submits himself to the court s jurisdiction. A formal or informal, direct or implied, written or oral submission by the defendant to the jurisdiction …   Ballentine's law dictionary

  • Special relativity — (SR) (also known as the special theory of relativity or STR) is the physical theory of measurement in inertial frames of reference proposed in 1905 by Albert Einstein (after considerable contributions of Hendrik Lorentz and Henri Poincaré) in the …   Wikipedia

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