Legal Definitions - Supplemental Jurisdiction

Supplementaljurisdiction is a way for federal courts to hear claims that they would not normally have the power to hear. This only happens when a lawsuit has more than one claim, and the federal court has the right to hear at least one of them because of diversity jurisdiction or federal question jurisdiction. If the other claims are related to the first claim, the court may choose to hear them as well.

Let's say someone sues a company for discrimination in federal court. The court has the power to hear this claim because it is a federal question. However, the person also wants to sue the company for breach of contract, which is not a federal question. If the discrimination claim and the breach of contract claim are related, the court may choose to hear both claims under supplemental jurisdiction.

Another example could be a case where someone sues a company for personal injury in federal court because the injury happened on federal property. The court has the power to hear this claim because of federal question jurisdiction. However, the person also wants to sue the company for property damage, which is not a federal question. If the personal injury claim and the property damage claim are related, the court may choose to hear both claims under supplemental jurisdiction.

These examples illustrate how supplemental jurisdiction allows federal courts to hear related claims that they would not normally have the power to hear.