Question

If Paula were to file a Negligence lawsuit to recover for her injuries, please discuss the following:Can Paula file her lawsuit in Federal Court? Why or Why not?

Answer 1

SITUATIONS TO FILE A CASE IN FEDERAL
COURT.

Only certain types of cases can be heard in the federal court system. IF YOUR CASE
DOES NOT FALL INTO ONE OF THESE CATEGORIES, THEN YOU SHOULD NOT FILE
YOUR LAWSUIT IN FEDERAL COURT. This does not mean that you do not have a claim;
your claim may not be the type of claim a federal court can hear. You may be able to file your
case in the state court.
The two types of cases that can be heard by a federal court are:
1. Cases involving claims that a federal law has been violated, which are called
''federal question'' cases, and
2. Cases involving claims between citizens of different states and in which damages in
excess of $75,000 are claimed, which are called ''diversity of citizenship'' cases.
The fact that you can bring these types of lawsuits in federal court does not mean that
you must bring them in federal court. You may be able to file certain types of cases in either
federal or state court.

There are two other requirements for suing in federal court when the case is based on
diversity.
1. If there is more than one plaintiff and/or more than one defendant, there must be
complete diversity of citizenship. This means that you may not live in the same state as
any defendant. For example, you are a citizen of New York. If you are involved in a
car accident with one person from New Jersey and one person from New York, you
cannot sue in federal court. Since you are from the same state as one of the
defendants, there is not complete diversity of citizenship. You may proceed in the
appropriate state court.
2. The amount of damages in controversy must be more than $75,000. If the amount
you seek to recover is $75,000.00 or less, you cannot file your action in federal court,
even if there is complete diversity of citizenship.
If you cannot satisfy both of these requirements, you cannot file your case in federal court.

If you're hurt because of something other than the employee's negligence,you can't look to the federalgovernment to recover. However, if youget injured because of the employee'snegligent breach of the duty of care,you can bring your claim against thefederal government for recovery.