A special appearance is a term used in the American law of civil procedure to describe a civil defendant's appearance in the court of another state solely to dispute the personal jurisdiction of the court over that defendant. Prior to the advent of this procedure, defendants had to either appear in the other state's court to defend the case on the merits, or not show up in court at all, and then mount a collateral attack on any judgment rendered against them, when the plaintiff came to the defendant's state to collect on the judgment. In a legal catch-22, if the defendant appeared solely to contest jurisdiction, the court would then be permitted to assert jurisdiction based on the defendant's presence.
In response to the apparent inequity presented by this situation, most states have passed statutes permitting the defendant to make a special appearance in the courts of the state to contest jurisdiction, without further subjecting themselves to the jurisdiction of the court. The equivalent of such an appearance is possible in U.S. federal courts, for the defendant may make a motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction. Where a special appearance is permitted, the term general appearance is used to denote the normal type of appearance in court. A "special appearance" is in contrast to a "general appearance".
Famous quotes containing the words special and/or appearance:
“When we walk the streets at night in safety, it does not strike us that this might be otherwise. This habit of feeling safe has become second nature, and we do not reflect on just how this is due solely to the working of special institutions. Commonplace thinking often has the impression that force holds the state together, but in fact its only bond is the fundamental sense of order which everybody possesses.”
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831)
“A bureaucracy is sure to think that its duty is to augment official power, official business, or official members, rather than to leave free the energies of mankind; it overdoes the quantity of government, as well as impairs its quality. The truth is, that a skilled bureaucracy ... is, though it boasts of an appearance of science, quite inconsistent with the true principles of the art of business.”
—Walter Bagehot (1826–1877)