If you sue a store what court do you go to?

Answer 1

This will depend on where the injury took place, the location of the store and the kind of action you plan on bringing against the store. In order to decide in which court to brin an action, you need to make sure the court has jurisdiction over the person (in this case the store) and over the subject matter. State courts are courts of general jurisdiction, so most cases are brought here. Meanwhile, federal courts are of limited jurisdiction. You can only bring a case in federal court if you meet certain criteria. One way to get into federal court is by having diversity of citizenship meaning that the parties have to be cititzens from different states AND the amount in controversy must exceed certain amount (last time I checked it was $75K). The second way to get into federal court is when the issue deals with a federal question. For example, a suit steming from inmigration or securities laws (both Federal Laws) or the constitution. When you go into court under the 'federal question' pretense, citizenship is irrelevant. So, unless you meet that criteria, chances are that State court is for you! The next thing you need to figure out is which venue to bring your lawsuit (but that's another question)