venue
Definitions from Case Law · United States Supreme Court
Definitions from Case Law
From 308 U.S. 165 - Neirbo Co. v. Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp. · 1939Most cited · 1,793 citing opinions
The locality of a law suit—the place where judicial authority may be exercised—though defined by legislation relates to the convenience of litigants and as such is subject to their disposition
How the Supreme Court has restated “venue”
Each Supreme Court definition of “venue,” sized by how often later courts cited it. “Change” is measured by wording overlap with earlier definitions — a rough signal, not a semantic judgment.
How often courts cite the cases defining “venue”
Court decisions citing the 13 opinions that defined “venue” — 6,825 in all, by decade. Counts are citations to the defining cases as a whole, not verified uses of the term. The dip in the most recent years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the latest years.
All 13 definitions, chronological · 1914–1964
- ORIGINAL
The courts of the sister state, trying the case, would be bound to give full faith and credit to all those substantial provisions of the statute which inhered in the cause of action, or which name conditions on which the right to sue depend. But venue is no part of the right; and a state cannot create a transitory cause of action and at the same time destroy the right to sue on that transitory cause of action in any court having jurisdiction. That jurisdiction is to be determined by the law of the court's creation, and cannot be defeated by the extraterritorial operation of a statute of another state, even though it created the right of action.
no part of the right
Controversies as to such subjects concern a personal privilege susceptible of being waived, which would not be the case if they involved contentions which were intrinsically and necessarily Federal.
vs. subject matter jurisdiction
this provision does not limit the general jurisdiction of the District Courts, it confers a personal privilege on the defendant, which he may assert, or may waive, at his election, if sued in some other district
§51 Judicial Code
Section 48 relates to venue. It confers upon defendants in patent cases a privilege in respect of the places in which suits may be maintained against them. And that privilege may be waived.
patent infringement
venue involves no more and no less than a personal privilege which 'may be lost by failure to assert it seasonably, by formal submission in a cause, or by submission through conduct.
personal privilege
Venue relates to the convenience of litigants. The provisions of § 19(b) plainly are of that character. Review in the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia where the Commission must maintain its principal office and hold its general sessions is convenient for the Commission. Review in any circuit where the natural gas company is located or has its principal place of business is designed to serve the convenience of the company.
the designation of the place where, for convenience of the courts or parties or both, the petition will be heard
in cases where the jurisdiction is founded on diversity of citizenship, establishes venue as the place where the suit may be maintained for the convenience of the parties
Congress, by describing the district where the suit was to be brought, was not investing the federal courts 'with a general jurisdiction expressed in terms applicable alike to all of them'. It was dealing with the convenience of the parties in suing or being sued at the designated places.
Suits in Admiralty Act · construing 46 U.S.C. § 30901 · Suits in Admiralty Act
[Venue] is not a qualification upon the power of the court to adjudicate, but a limitation designed for the convenience of litigants, and, as such, may be waived by them.
where the crime charged is a failure to do a legally required act, the place fixed for its performance fixes the situs of the crime
crime of omission
The provision for trial in the vicinity of the crime is a safeguard against the unfairness and hardship involved when an accused is prosecuted in a remote place.
criminal