Also known as: visnes · vicinage · venue
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A neighborhood or district from which jurors are summoned at common law.
Virgil Vaughn sued a Delaware corporation in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania for breach of a supply contract. The corporation moved under Rule 12(b)(3) to dismiss, asserting that its contacts were confined to the Middle District and that the chosen forum was therefore improper. The court examined whether venue lay in the Eastern District before addressing any other defenses.
Vito Villarreal, a Texas resident, sued a multistate retailer in the Northern District of Texas. The retailer maintained stores and employees only in the Southern and Western Districts. The court applied the corporate-residence rule to determine whether the Northern District counted as a proper venue.
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Vivian Vaughn petitioned to probate her father's will in County A. Her brother filed a contest alleging lack of capacity and improper venue. The court required the proponent to make a prima facie showing of venue while the contestant bore the ultimate burden on capacity.
Vincent Valdez filed suit in the District of New Jersey. After the case was transferred under section 1404(a) to the District of Delaware for convenience, the transferee court applied New Jersey choice-of-law rules to the state-law claims.
Valerie Voss petitioned the court in County B to remove the trustee of a trust whose principal place of administration was in County A. The court dismissed the petition, holding that venue for trust proceedings lies only where the trust is administered.
Venture Holdings sued a supplier but repeatedly ignored discovery orders. The defendant moved to dismiss under Rule 41(b). The court granted the motion and entered judgment on the merits because the dismissal was not based on jurisdiction or venue.
A defendant must demonstrate that venue is improper in the chosen district. The motion may be joined with other Rule 12 defenses but is waived if omitted from a pre-answer motion or responsive pleading.
A corporation resides in every district within a multi-district state where its contacts would support personal jurisdiction if the district were a separate state. If no such district exists, the corporation resides in the district of its most significant contacts.
Petitioners seeking to establish intestacy must prove venue. Proponents of a will must prove due execution and, if petitioning, also death and venue. Contestants bear the burden on lack of capacity or undue influence.
No. The transferee court must apply the same state law, including choice-of-law rules, that the transferor court would have applied.
Venue lies in the county where the trust's principal place of administration is or will be located, or, for a testamentary trust with an open estate, in the county where the decedent's estate is being administered.
A dismissal for failure to prosecute or to obey court orders operates as an adjudication on the merits unless the order states otherwise or the dismissal rests on lack of jurisdiction, improper venue, or failure to join a required party.
…writing under the pseudonym Federal Farmer criticized the use of "written evidence" while objecting to the omission of a vicinage right: "Nothing can be more essential than the cross examining [of] witnesses, and generally before the triers of the facts in question. . . . [W]ritten evidence . . . [is] almost useless;…