Warning

Info

Table of Contents
Pilea, HLS '24 |

1 0

Back to briefs

Burnham v. Superior Court

(1990)

Supreme Court of the United States - 495 U.S. 604, 110 S.Ct. 2105, 109 L.Ed.2d 631

tl;dr:

A man who is served with divorce while briefly physically present in a state renders himself subject to the jurisdiction of the state.

Video Summary


Case Summary

In 1990, the Supreme Court decided on Burnham v. Superior Court, involving a divorce dispute between a husband (Burnham) and wife (Heitner) over personal jurisdiction. Burnham, a New Jersey resident, went to California for business and to see his children who were with Heitner. While there, Heitner served him divorce papers. Burnham argued that the California court lacked personal jurisdiction because he had minimal contact with the state and his visit was unrelated to the divorce case.

The California courts and the Supreme Court both ruled that personal jurisdiction was valid based on Burnham's physical presence in the state. They applied a historical approach to personal jurisdiction, maintaining that a state court could exercise jurisdiction over a nonresident served with papers within the state. The Court further concluded that physical presence satisfied due process requirements.

The case clarified that physical presence was enough to establish personal jurisdiction without analyzing minimum contacts or reasonableness. It also emphasized the importance of adhering to historical and constitutional principles.

ICRAIssue, Conclusion, Rule, Analysis for Burnham v. Superior Court

LSD+ exclusive

This content is exclusively for LSD+ users.

Sign up for LSD+ for full access to the Burnham v. Superior Court case brief summary.

Enjoy unlimited access with our 14-day free trial.

Facts & HoldingBurnham v. Superior Court case brief facts & holding

Facts:In 1976, plaintiff/respondent (Francie Burnham) and defendant/petitioner (Dennis Burnham) were...

Holding:Even in the new world of International Shoe v. WA,...

LSD+ exclusive

This content is exclusively for LSD+ users.

Sign up for LSD+ for full access to the Burnham v. Superior Court case brief summary.

Enjoy unlimited access with our 14-day free trial.

DeepDiveHighlight a legal term to see the definition

Font size -+
Burnham v. Superior Court | Case Brief DeepDive
Majority opinion, author: Justice Scalia
Level 1
Click below 👇 to DeepDive

The Supreme Court is examining whether a nonresident who was served with process while temporarily in California can be subject to the state's jurisdiction in a suit unrelated to their activities in the state. Due process requires adherence to established rules and principles of jurisprudence for the protection and enforcement of private rights, including principles of public law governing a state's jurisdiction over persons and property. Physical presence remains important in determining jurisdiction, and jurisdiction based on physical presence alone is still considered valid under due process. The court finds that Mr. Burnham's connections to California were too weak to establish that it was fair for California to assert jurisdiction over him and his property. The court argues that introducing a "reasonableness" inquiry could create uncertainty and lead to more legal disputes over the basis for jurisdiction.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.

LSD+ exclusive

This content is exclusively for LSD+ users.

Sign up for LSD+ for full access to the Burnham v. Superior Court case brief summary.

Enjoy unlimited access with our 14-day free trial.

Opinion (Concurring-in-part-and-dissenting-in-part), author: Justice White
Level 1
Click below 👇 to DeepDive

Justice White concurs with Justice Scalia's opinion in upholding the lower court's ruling that personal service in the forum state is sufficient to establish jurisdiction over a nonresident. Justice White acknowledges that this rule is widely accepted and does not violate due process, unless it lacks common sense or appears arbitrary. Claims of unfairness are not considered unless the nonresident's presence in the forum state is involuntarily accidental. In this case, personal service in California satisfies the requirements for jurisdiction.

Opinion (Concurrence), author: Justice Brennan
Level 1
Click below 👇 to DeepDive

The author argues that a modern approach to jurisdictional analysis is necessary, and that compliance with contemporary notions of due process is required for every assertion of state-court jurisdiction. The historical pedigree of the transient jurisdiction rule is relevant, but not the sole determinant in determining whether it is consistent with due process. The rule provides clear notice to defendants voluntarily present in a particular state that they are subject to suit in that forum and is consistent with reasonable expectations. Without transient jurisdiction, a transient would have the full benefit of the power of the forum State's courts as a plaintiff while retaining immunity from their authority as a defendant, creating an asymmetry.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.

LSD+ exclusive

This content is exclusively for LSD+ users.

Sign up for LSD+ for full access to the Burnham v. Superior Court case brief summary.

Enjoy unlimited access with our 14-day free trial.

Opinion (Concurrence), author: Justice Stevens
Level 1
Click below 👇 to DeepDive

Justice Stevens agrees with the judgment in the case but did not join the Court's opinion in Shaffer v. Heitner due to its broad scope. He also declines to join the opinions of Justice Scalia and Justice Brennan in this case. However, he concurs that the historical evidence, fairness considerations, and common sense all support the decision, making it an easy case to affirm.

🤯 High points 🤯Key points contributed by students on LSD

LSD+ exclusive

This content is exclusively for LSD+ users.

Sign up for LSD+ for full access to the Burnham v. Superior Court case brief summary.

Enjoy unlimited access with our 14-day free trial.

LSD+ Case Briefs

Features

  • DeepDive for detailed case analysis
  • Over 50,000 existing case briefs
  • Instant briefs for another 6,000,000 cases
  • Highlight dictionary for legal term definitions
  • Social learning with chat and high points

Over 50,000 Cases Briefed

LSD+ gives you access to over 50,000 case briefs, more than anyone else. Be the first to email us the website of a case brief product that offers you more case briefs and we'll give you a free year of LSD+.

14-Day Free Trial

Unlimited access. Read as much content as you want during your trial with no device limitations. Cancel any time during your trial and keep access for the full 14 days.

Integrated Legal Dictionary

Lawyers and judges love to use big words. And Latin, for some reason.

Highlight a legal term in LSD Briefs and get an instant, plain English definition. Try highlighting contract or specific performance. No need to search or read through a list of definitions, simply highlight the words you don’t know and our LSDefine integration will instantly give you a definition to any of over 30,000 legal terms.

DeepDive

DeepDive allows you to explore legal cases like never before. DeepDive offers multiple levels of case summaries, which empowers you to quickly and easily find the information you need to stay on top of readings. Easily navigate through summary levels and click on any text to get more detail, all the way down to the original legal case text.

Brief anything. Instantly.

Our proprietary state-of-the-art system can instantly brief over 6,000,000 US cases. That means we can probably brief that case that your professor assigned last night when she sent you a poorly scanned pdf and told you to read every third paragraph. Or maybe she uploaded it to Canvas and didn’t really tell you to read it, but you know you probably should. Tenure does wild things to good people.

Social Learning with Chat and High Points

Study groups are a great way to learn and explore a case. LSD has chat rooms for each case to let you ask questions across the community and hear what other students struggled with and how they put it all together. Learn the key points of every case from other LSD+ users and share your knowledge with LSD High Points.

Real-Time Brief Feedback

Don’t settle for mistakes in briefs that have been there for 10 years and never fixed. Find an issue or something missing from a brief? Down vote and we will make improvements. All of our case brief editors graduated from from T14 law schools.

Burnham v. Superior Court

Chat for Burnham v. Superior Court
brief-40
👍 Chat vibe: 0 👎
Help us make LSD better!
Tell us what's important to you
LSD+ is ad-free, with DMs, discounts, case briefs & more.