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Legal Memorandum: Personal Jurisdiction over a Defendant

Issue: Under Wyoming law, when can a court exercise personal jurisdiction over a defendant?

Area of Law: Litigation & Procedure
Keywords: Personal jurisdiction; Defendant; Privilege of acting
Jurisdiction: Wyoming
Cited Cases: 620 P.2d 5; 556 F.3d 1095
Cited Statutes: Wyo. Stat. § 5‑1­­­‑107(a)
Date: 12/01/2014

Wyoming courts are authorized to exercise personal jurisdiction over a defendant on any basis which is not inconsistent with the Wyoming or United States constitutions.  Wyo. Stat. § 5‑1­­­‑107(a).  To make this determination, the Wyoming Supreme Court adopted a three-part test for defining the outer limits of personal jurisdiction based on a single act:

First, the defendant must purposefully avail himself of the privilege of acting in the forum state or of causing important consequences in that state. Second, the cause of action must arise from the consequences in the forum state of the defendant’s activities. Finally, the activities of the defendant or the consequences of those activities must have a substantial enough connection with the forum state to make the exercise of jurisdiction over the defendant reasonable.

First Wyo. Bank, N.A., Rawlins v. Trans Mountain Sales & Leasing, Inc., 602 P.2d 1219, 1221 (Wyo. 1979).  Although first adopted in 1979, this remains the test today.  Black Diamond Energy Partners 2001-A Ltd. v. S&T Bank, 278 P.3d 738, 742 (Wyo. 2012).

With respect to the requirement that the defendant purposefully avails him/herself of the privilege of acting in the forum state or of causing important consequences in the state, this can be satisfied by either acting in the form state or causing important consequences in the state. That is, the defendant will satisfy the first factor if he purposely avails himself of the privilege of either “acting in the forum state or causing […]

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