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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 1369. Multiparty, multiforum jurisdiction
(a) In General. - The district courts shall have original
jurisdiction of any civil action involving minimal diversity
between adverse parties that arises from a single accident, where
at least 75 natural persons have died in the accident at a discrete
location, if -
(1) a defendant resides in a State and a substantial part of
the accident took place in another State or other location,
regardless of whether that defendant is also a resident of the
State where a substantial part of the accident took place;
(2) any two defendants reside in different States, regardless
of whether such defendants are also residents of the same State
or States; or
(3) substantial parts of the accident took place in different
States.
(b) Limitation of Jurisdiction of District Courts. - The district
court shall abstain from hearing any civil action described in
subsection (a) in which -
(1) the substantial majority of all plaintiffs are citizens of
a single State of which the primary defendants are also citizens;
and
(2) the claims asserted will be governed primarily by the laws
of that State.
(c) Special Rules and Definitions. - For purposes of this section
-
(1) minimal diversity exists between adverse parties if any
party is a citizen of a State and any adverse party is a citizen
of another State, a citizen or subject of a foreign state, or a
foreign state as defined in section 1603(a) of this title;
(2) a corporation is deemed to be a citizen of any State, and a
citizen or subject of any foreign state, in which it is
incorporated or has its principal place of business, and is
deemed to be a resident of any State in which it is incorporated
or licensed to do business or is doing business;
(3) the term "injury" means -
(A) physical harm to a natural person; and
(B) physical damage to or destruction of tangible property,
but only if physical harm described in subparagraph (A) exists;
(4) the term "accident" means a sudden accident, or a natural
event culminating in an accident, that results in death incurred
at a discrete location by at least 75 natural persons; and
(5) the term "State" includes the District of Columbia, the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and any territory or possession of
the United States.
(d) Intervening Parties. - In any action in a district court
which is or could have been brought, in whole or in part, under
this section, any person with a claim arising from the accident
described in subsection (a) shall be permitted to intervene as a
party plaintiff in the action, even if that person could not have
brought an action in a district court as an original matter.
(e) Notification of Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. -
A district court in which an action under this section is pending
shall promptly notify the judicial panel on multidistrict
litigation of the pendency of the action.
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