Minimum contacts

The minimum contacts idea comes from a Supreme Court case called International Shoe and is the foundation of modern personal jurisdiction law. The defendant needs enough ties to the state that being sued there does not offend basic notions of fairness. A one-time, unrelated contact is usually not enough, while ongoing business activity or directing harmful conduct at the state often is. Courts look at the quality and nature of the contacts, not just their number. The analysis ties closely to whether the lawsuit arises from those contacts.