What is required for a federal court to take jurisdiction in diversity of citizenship cases?

In diversity of citizenship cases, one of the key requirements for a federal court to take jurisdiction is that the amount in controversy must exceed $75,000. This requirement is rooted in the purpose of diversity jurisdiction, which is to provide an impartial forum for parties from different states to resolve their disputes. By setting a monetary threshold, the federal court system aims to handle only those disputes that are significant enough to warrant federal attention.

The figure of $75,000 is established by the legislation governing federal jurisdiction, specifically the Jurisdictional Amount in Controversy statute. This means that if the amount of money that the plaintiff seeks in the lawsuit is less than this threshold, the federal court will typically not have jurisdiction based solely on diversity. This distinguishes federal jurisdiction from state courts, which may not have such a requirement or may set it at a different level.

Therefore, for a federal court to take jurisdiction in diversity of citizenship cases, the financial stakes need to be sufficiently high, reflecting the importance of maintaining a clear and fair judicial process for parties from different states.