Why are some lawsuits filed in seemingly obscure areas?

Question

I just read that article about Reebok taking Nike to court, and for some reason the lawsuit was filed in east texas, Nike 's headquarters is in Oregon and Reebok is owned by Addidas which is a german company, so it begs the question, why is the lawsuit filed in east texas?

Answer 1

There is a jury verdict research service and plaintiff's attorneys can find areas which have juries that give high verdicts. Of course, it is necessary that the incident that gives rise to the lawsuit has a relationship to where the case is filed, or the plaintiff is a resident of that county. We have a couple of counties in my state that give larger verdicts than other counties.

Answer 2

There are complicated rules in jurisdiction that take many lawschools an entire year to teach...but in summary...

This was probably forum shopping. Meaning that Reebok found the law in Texas to be very favorable to their claim..so they made sure they met the jurisdiction requirements and filed suit there.

But more likely the injury or wrongful act happened in Texas. It makes sense when you think about it. Lets say Nike stole some of Reeboks designs from a plant in Texas and make some citizens unemployed due to loss of business. It was the State of Texas who also suffered through its citizens...so it makes sense to litigate and potentially fix the harm there.

Answer 3

That's a matter of jurisdiction. Nike can be sued EITHER where the incident took place, where they are incorporated in the USA (probably Delaware), OR where their "nerve center" of business is (sounds like it's OR). It is very likely that the incident occurred in east TX.