A new law, the Federal Courts Jurisdiction and Venue Clarification Act of 2011 makes revisions of the general federal venue statue, 28 U.S.C. ?? 1390 et seq. The act clarified venue in cases removed from state courts and said it was not the purpose of the chapter to determine the district court to which a civil action may be removed. It does govern the transfer of an action as removed between districts and divisions of the United States district courts.
The act resolved the circuits’ split on the question of residency for the purposes of venue and adopted the majority rule that residency is a natural person’s state of domicile, the same rule used in the determination of citizenship for diversity jurisdiction.
Sub-section (a) of Section 1404 of Title 28 is amended to provide that parties may stipulate to transfer venue to a district where the lawsuit may otherwise have not originally been brought.
28 U.S.C. 1391 is amended by striking sub-sections (a) through (d) and substituting venue in general (where a civil action may be brought) and residency (for all venue purposes).