Personal jurisdiction stands for the court’s authority over individuals to a court case. If a court has personal jurisdiction over a party to a lawsuit, it can pass judgments that affect the person directly. Otherwise, the court can only exercise its powers to a level that the state powers give it. In other terms, personal jurisdiction refers to the capacity of the court to pass a verdict against an individual over a particular dispute.
Personal jurisdiction allows courts to make judgment even if one of the parties affected by the judgment does not reside in the state or is absent during the judgment.
According to Nebraska Long-arm Statute, any court in the state has the right to exercise personal jurisdiction over any person who directly, or through the help of agents, carries out any business transaction in the state. For personal jurisdiction to hold, the defendant has to be ‘really at home.’ Personal jurisdiction can only be applicable if an individual has direct contacts with the state where an action is filed.
Software.com does not have direct contact with Nebraska. The company does not have any subsidiary in the state and only sells its products in Nebraska through the internet. Consequently, it is hard for Nebraska courts to exercise personal jurisdiction over Software.com.
Products from a company in a different state may reach a different jurisdiction in the process of trading. Nevertheless, this does not imply that the respective company has minimum contact with that jurisdiction. The same case applies to Software.com. The fact that its products reach the Nebraska state does not mean that the company has minimum contact with the state. Consequently, it is hard for the courts in the state to exercise personal jurisdiction over the company.