Two Civ Pro Items of Note to Torts Profs

Torts profs (and practitioners) are litigators, too.   So, two civil procedure items of note from the U.S. Supreme Court:

1.  In Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal (pdf) (08-22), the Court held that a West Virginia justice’s failure to recuse after accepting substantial campaign donations from a person associated with the defendant violated the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment.

2. Yesterday, the Court granted review in Hertz v. Friend (08-1107).  The question presented is whether for purposes of determing a corporation’s principal place of business for diversity jurisdiction, a federal court should apply the “place of operation test” or the “nerve center test” where a corporation does substantially more business in one state compared to others. 

– SBS