Civil Procedure Keyed to Friedenthal
Burnham v. Superior Court of California
ProfessorTodd Berman
CaseCast™ – "What you need to know"
Facts
Burnham (Defendant) and his spouse married in New Jersey. The couple decided to separate and his spouse moved to California with their two children. In January 1988, Defendant’s spouse brought suit for divorce in California state court. At that same time, Defendant went to California on business and visited his children. When he went to his spouse’s home, he was served with a California court summons and a copy of the divorce petition. He then went back to New Jersey. He made a special appearance and moved to quash the summons on the grounds that California lacked personal jurisdiction because his only contacts with California consisted of occasional business trips and visits to his children. The motion was denied and the Court of Appeals denied mandamus relief. The Supreme Court of the United States granted certiorari.
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