Logourl black
From our private database of 14,000+ case briefs...

Rao v. ERA Alaska Airlines

United States District Court for the District of Maryland
22 F.Supp.3d 529 (2014)

Facts

Vijai Rao, Sumathi Mathur, and other Maryland residents (plaintiffs) purchased airline tickets via Expedia.com, an Internet travel website, for a flight from Kodiak, Alaska to Anchorage, Alaska on ERA Alaska Airlines (ERA) (defendant). The plaintiffs traveled from Maryland to Alaska for the intrastate Alaska flight. After deplaning in Anchorage, the plaintiffs noticed that a case containing valuable jewelry and cash was missing. The plaintiffs filed suit in federal district court in Maryland against ERA and other Alaska-based individuals (defendants), alleging negligence and other claims. The defendants moved to dismiss the complaint for lack of personal jurisdiction. The district court denied the defendants’ motion, but allowed the parties to undertake limited discovery to determine whether the defendants had sufficient contacts with Maryland to warrant the exercise of personal jurisdiction over the defendants. Thereafter, the plaintiffs sought to amend their complaint to include facts supporting their argument that the district court possessed personal jurisdiction over the defendants. The defendants opposed the motion to amend and renewed their motion to dismiss, claiming that personal jurisdiction could not attach because ERA had not purposefully engaged in business in Maryland. Rather, ERA argued that it simply allowed the travel website to advertise ERA’s flight information on the system for anyone to access and make a purchase.

Rule of Law

The rule of law is the black letter law upon which the court rested its decision.

To access this section, please start your free trial or log in.

Issue

The issue section includes the dispositive legal issue in the case phrased as a question.

To access this section, please start your free trial or log in.

Holding and Reasoning (Grimm, J.)

The holding and reasoning section includes:

  • A “yes” or “no” answer to the question framed in the issue section;
  • A summary of the majority or plurality opinion, using the CREAC method; and
  • The procedural disposition (e.g. reversed and remanded, affirmed, etc.).

To access this section, please start your free trial or log in.

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 97,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools—such as Yale, Vanderbilt, Berkeley, and the University of Illinois—even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students. Read our student testimonials.

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students. Read more about Quimbee.

Here's why 174,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 14,000 briefs, keyed to 188 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
Access This Case Brief for Free
With a 7-Day Free Trial Membership

Here's why 172,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners not other law students.
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet.
  • 14,000 briefs - keyed to 188 casebooks.
  • Uniform format for every case brief.
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language.
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions.
  • Ability to tag case briefs in an outlining tool.
  • Top-notch customer support.