Pendent Jurisdiction Law and Legal Definition
District courts have discretion to hear pendent state claims where there is a substantial federal claim arising out of a common nucleus of operative fact. It is based on considerations of judicial economy, convenience and fairness to the litigants.
Pendent jurisdiction allows a plaintiff who has a jurisdictionally sufficient federal question claim to join, in the original complaint, related claims that otherwise are jurisdictionally defective. Generally, it is invoked when a plaintiff brings a federal question claim against a nondiverse defendant and seeks to have a related state law claim against the same defendant adjudicated by the federal court as an incident to the federal claim. Pendent jurisdiction views matters from the plaintiff's perspective, i.e., may he join all his claims with the ones as to which the federal court has subject matter jurisdiction?
Legal Definition list
Related Legal Terms
- Accompanying Spouse and Dependents
- Acts of Independent Significance
- Adequate and Independent Decision
- Administration Pendente Lite
- Administrator Pendente Lite
- Admiralty Jurisdiction
- Adult Interdependent Partner
- Aggregation of Jurisdictional Amount
- Aid to Families With Dependent Children AFDC
- Alimony Pendente Lite
