Venue generally: 28 USC § 1391
In addition to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Title 28 of the United States Code contains other statutes that govern matters such as the jurisdiction and venue of federal courts. Jurisdiction of the federal district courts over various types of actions is set forth in Chapter 85 of Title 28. Venue of the federal district courts is dealt with in Chapter 87 of Title 28.
Key statutes which may be of interest to researchers appear in the columns to the left and right. Also, researchers may want to browse through Chapters 85 and 87 of Title 28 to determine whether any of the statutes in these columns apply to a particular case.
Research tip: BLS students, faculty and administrators can find annotated versions of these statutes in both Westlaw: United States Code Annotated (U.S.C.A.) (log in required) and Lexis: United States Code Service (U.S.C.S.) (log in required). Annotated statutes include statutory history, links to pertinent decisions and links to useful secondary sources.
Note: links below are from Cornell Law School's publicly accessible Legal Information Institute:
Jurisdiction of the U.S. Supreme Court, Title 28, Chapter 81 §§ 1251-1259
Jurisdiction of the federal courts of appeal is governed primarily by 28 USC §§ 1291-1296. Of particular note are:
28 USC §1291, which gives the courts of appeal jurisdiction over appeals from final decisions of the federal district courts.
28 USC § 1292, which gives the courts of appeal jurisdiction over certain interlocutory appeals from the federal district courts, including the granting or denial of injunctive relief.
28 USC § 1296, which gives the courts of appeal jurisdiction over appeals from certain federal agencies.