# § 1369. Multiparty, multiforum jurisdiction
**(a)** **In General.—** The district courts shall have original jurisdiction of any civil action involving minimal diversity between adverse parties that arises from a single accident, where at least 75 natural persons have died in the accident at a discrete location, if—
**(1)** a defendant resides in a State and a substantial part of the accident took place in another State or other location, regardless of whether that defendant is also a resident of the State where a substantial part of the accident took place;
**(2)** any two defendants reside in different States, regardless of whether such defendants are also residents of the same State or States; or
**(3)** substantial parts of the accident took place in different States.
**(b)** **Limitation of Jurisdiction of District Courts.—** The district court shall abstain from hearing any civil action described in subsection (a) in which—
**(1)** the substantial majority of all plaintiffs are citizens of a single State of which the primary defendants are also citizens; and
**(2)** the claims asserted will be governed primarily by the laws of that State.
**(c)** **Special Rules and Definitions.—** For purposes of this section—
**(1)** minimal diversity exists between adverse parties if any party is a citizen of a State and any adverse party is a citizen of another State, a citizen or subject of a foreign state, or a foreign state as defined in section 1603(a) of this title;
**(2)** a corporation is deemed to be a citizen of any State, and a citizen or subject of any foreign state, in which it is incorporated or has its principal place of business, and is deemed to be a resident of any State in which it is incorporated or licensed to do business or is doing business;
**(3)** the term “injury” means—
**(A)** physical harm to a natural person; and
**(B)** physical damage to or destruction of tangible property, but only if physical harm described in subparagraph (A) exists;
**(4)** the term “accident” means a sudden accident, or a natural event culminating in an accident, that results in death incurred at a discrete location by at least 75 natural persons; and
**(5)** the term “State” includes the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and any territory or possession of the United States.
**(d)** **Intervening Parties.—** In any action in a district court which is or could have been brought, in whole or in part, under this section, any person with a claim arising from the accident described in subsection (a) shall be permitted to intervene as a party plaintiff in the action, even if that person could not have brought an action in a district court as an original matter.
**(e)** **Notification of Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation.—** A district court in which an action under this section is pending shall promptly notify the judicial panel on multidistrict litigation of the pendency of the action.
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**Source Credit**: (Added Pub. L. 107–273, div. C, title I, § 11020(b)(1)(A), Nov. 2, 2002, 116 Stat. 1826.)
## Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
### Effective Date
> “The amendments made by subsection (b) [enacting this section and sections 1697 and 1785 of this title and amending sections 1391 and 1441 of this title] shall apply to a civil action if the accident giving rise to the cause of action occurred on or after the 90th day after the date of the enactment of this Act [
>
> ].”
, , , provided that: