PUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

ESAB GROUP, INCORPORATED,

Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.

CENTRICUT, INCORPORATED; THOMAS

ALEY,

Defendants-Appellants,

No. 96-2504

and

JOHN BERGEN; THOMAS FITZPATRICK;

GORDON THOMAS ALEY; LINDA ALEY,

d/b/a/ Corbin Consulting; MARK

LINDBERG,

Defendants.

Appeal from the United States District Court

for the District of South Carolina, at Florence.

C. Weston Houck, Chief District Judge.

(CA-96-168-4-2)

Argued: July 9, 1997

Decided: October 17, 1997

Before NIEMEYER, MICHAEL, and MOTZ, Circuit Judges.

_________________________________________________________________

Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded by published opinion. Judge Niemeyer wrote the opinion, in which Judge Michael and

Judge Motz joined.

_________________________________________________________________
COUNSEL

ARGUED: John Phillips Linton, SINKLER & BOYD, P.A., Charleston, South Carolina, for Appellants. C. Craig Young, WILLCOX,

MCLEOD, BUYCK & WILLIAMS, Florence, South Carolina, for

Appellee. ON BRIEF: Manton M. Grier, SINKLER & BOYD, P.A.,

Columbia, South Carolina, for Appellants. Wm. Reynolds Williams,

WILLCOX, MCLEOD, BUYCK & WILLIAMS, Florence, South

Carolina, for Appellee.

_________________________________________________________________

OPINION

NIEMEYER, Circuit Judge:

In this case we must determine whether the district court in South

Carolina obtained personal jurisdiction over New Hampshire defendants pursuant to a complaint alleging a civil RICO claim and related

state law claims. The district court, relying on South Carolina's longarm statute, found that the defendants' intentional tortious conduct

directed at the South Carolina plaintiff supplied sufficient minimum

contacts to satisfy the requirements of the South Carolina statute and

the Fourteenth Amendment.

For reasons that follow, we disagree with the district court's rationale. But we nonetheless affirm the district court's finding of personal

jurisdiction over the defendants because of the nationwide service of

process authorized by the RICO statute and the doctrine of pendent

personal jurisdiction.

I

The ESAB Group, Inc. is a Delaware corporation located in Florence, South Carolina, which engages in the business of developing

and manufacturing welding and cutting systems. In its amended complaint against Centricut, Inc., Thomas Aley, and others, the ESAB

Group alleged that Centricut and Aley participated in a conspiracy to

appropriate the ESAB Group's trade secrets and customer lists. The

complaint alleged that they accomplished this with the assistance of

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John Bergen, a Florida resident who served as an ESAB Group sales

representative in Florida from 1980 to 1984 and as the ESAB Group's

regional sales manager in Florida from 1987 to 1995. The ESAB

Group charged in its amended complaint that the misappropriation

was effected "pursuant to an intentional plan . .. to appropriate Plaintiff's business" and by means of a "scheme or artifice to defraud." The

complaint contains six counts based on state law, alleging conspiracy,

intentional interference with economic relations, breach of contract

accompanied by a fraudulent act, South Carolina Unfair Trade Practices Act violations, misappropriation of trade secrets, intentional

interference with prospective contractual relations, and entitlement to

equitable relief. It also contains a count for civil RICO based on 18

U.S.C. § 1962.

Centricut is a New Hampshire limited liability company that manufactures and sells replacement parts for cutting machines, and arguably competes to some degree with the ESAB Group. Centricut

conducts its business entirely through mail order. It has no offices or

sales representatives in South Carolina; it has no property in South

Carolina; it has no phone listings there; and it has never paid South

Carolina taxes. Moreover, it claims that no employee has ever traveled to South Carolina "for any purpose." As of 1995, Centricut did

have 26 customers who resided in South Carolina, constituting 1% of

all of its customers and representing .079% of its gross annual sales.

It also purchased on one occasion between $10,000 and $20,000

worth of parts from a South Carolina supplier. Centricut stated that

it had never targeted formal advertising at South Carolina, having

only once published formal advertising in a trade journal of national

circulation.

Aley, Centricut's CEO at the time, stated in an affidavit that he was

a New Hampshire resident until November 1995 and a Florida resident thereafter. He stated that for the past 25 to 30 years he has never

been in South Carolina and that he has conducted no business and

owns no property there.

Centricut and Aley filed several motions, one of which sought to

dismiss the complaint under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(2),

alleging that their contacts with South Carolina were insufficient to

subject them to personal jurisdiction there. The ESAB Group

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responded that the defendants "purposefully directed their activities

toward the State of South Carolina and its corporate citizens, and this

litigation arises from those activities." The ESAB Group claimed

alternatively that the court had personal jurisdiction over the defendants by reason of the nationwide service of process in RICO actions

permitted by 18 U.S.C. § 1965(b).

The district court denied the motion to dismiss, holding that it had

personal jurisdiction over Centricut and Aley, based on "the effects

test" drawn from Calder v. Jones, 465 U.S. 784 (1984). The district

court said that because Centricut's actions "were designed to damage

the [South Carolina] plaintiff . . . and did damage the plaintiff," it was

fair to hale Centricut into a South Carolina court. The district court

granted leave to the defendants to file an interlocutory appeal under

28 U.S.C. § 1292(b), and we did likewise.

II

Federal district courts may exercise in personam jurisdiction only

to the degree authorized by Congress acting under its constitutional

power to "ordain and establish" the lower federal courts. U.S. Const.

art. III, § 1; see also id. art. I, § 8, cl. 9. The exercise of personal jurisdiction is also constrained by the Due Process Clause of the Fifth

Amendment. See Omni Capital Int'l v. Rudolf Wolff & Co., 484 U.S.

97, 103-04 (1987). As prerequisites to exercising personal jurisdiction

over a defendant, a federal court must have jurisdiction over the subject matter of the suit, venue, "a constitutionally sufficient relationship between the defendant and the forum," and"authorization for

service of a summons on the person." Id. at 104. Thus, a federal

court's exercise of jurisdiction over a person is closely linked to

effective service of process.

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(k)(1) provides that "[s]ervice of

a summons or filing a waiver of service is effective to establish [a

federal court's] jurisdiction over the person of a defendant" if such

service is accomplished on a defendant whom the law has made amenable to the court's process. See also Omni Capital, 484 U.S. at 104.

Rule 4(k) enumerates five sources authorizing service to effect in

personam jurisdiction: (1) state law; (2) Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 14 and 19 (relating to third party practice and joinder), provided

 4
service is effected "not more than 100 miles from the place from

which the summons issues"; (3) the federal interpleader statute, 28

U.S.C. § 1335; (4) federal statute; and (5) Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(k)(2) itself, to enforce claims "arising under federal law" on

defendants who are not subject to the jurisdiction of any state.

In the district court, the ESAB Group argued that it had served the

defendants in the manner specified by South Carolina's long-arm statute, S.C. Code Ann. §§ 36-2-803(1)(c) & (d), and by RICO, 18

U.S.C. § 1965. Because the district court held that the ESAB Group

had effectively served the defendants under South Carolina's longarm statute, the court did not address whether service was effective

under the RICO statute.

When authorized by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(k)(1)(A),

service of process sufficient to exercise jurisdiction over a defendant

is limited by state law, so that any challenge to the personal jurisdiction requires us to assess the jurisdiction of the courts in the state

where the district court is located. Centricut and Aley contend that

service on them under South Carolina's long-arm statute crossed the

boundaries of that statute as constrained by the Fourteenth Amendment and that the district court erred in finding such service effective.

Since in personam jurisdiction of a state court is limited by that

state's laws and by the Fourteenth Amendment, we first inquire

whether the state long-arm statute authorizes the exercise of jurisdiction over the defendant. See Wolf v. Richmond County Hosp. Auth.,

745 F.2d 904, 909 (4th Cir. 1984). If it does, we must then determine

whether the state court's exercise of such jurisdiction is consistent

with the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. See id.

Because Rule 4(k)(1)(A) delimits the scope of effective federal service in terms of the limits on state court jurisdiction, our inquiry into

the federal court's jurisdiction pursuant to Rule 4(k)(1)(A) incorporates the Fourteenth Amendment due process standard, even though

that Amendment applies of its own force only to states. See U.S.

Const. amend. XIV, § 1 ("No State shall . .. ."); see generally 4

Charles Alan Wright & Arthur R. Miller, Federal Practice and

Procedure § 1067.1 (Supp. 1997) (implicit in Rule 4(k)(2) "is the

concept that a federal district court must employ a state long-arm statute and use a Fourteenth Amendment due process analysis to assess

 5
the exercise of personal jurisdiction over a non-resident of the forum

state").

South Carolina's long-arm statute provides in relevant part:

A court may exercise personal jurisdiction over a person

who acts directly or by an agent as to a cause of action arising from the person's . . . (c) commission of a tortious act

in whole or in part in the State; [or] (d) causing tortious

injury or death in this State by an act or omission outside

this State if he regularly does or solicits business, or engages

in any other persistent course of conduct, or derives substantial revenue from goods used or consumed or services rendered, in this State.

S.C. Code Ann. §§ 36-2-803(1)(c) & (d). South Carolina's long-arm

statute has been interpreted to reach the outer bounds permitted by the

Due Process Clause. See Southern Plastics Co. v. Southern Commerce

Bank, 423 S.E.2d 128, 130 (S.C. 1992); Hammond v. Cummins

Engine Co., 336 S.E.2d 867, 868 (S.C. 1985); Triplett v. R. M. Wade

& Co., 200 S.E.2d 375, 379 (S.C. 1973); see also Federal Ins. Co. v.

Lake Shore, Inc., 886 F.2d 654, 657 n.2 (4th Cir. 1989). Consequently, "the statutory inquiry necessarily merges with the constitutional inquiry, and the two inquiries essentially become one." Stover

v. O'Connell Assocs., Inc., 84 F.3d 132, 135-36 (4th Cir. 1996). We

thus turn to the constitutional question of whether Centricut and Aley

have established "minimum contacts with [South Carolina] such that

the maintenance of the suit does not offend `traditional notions of fair

play and substantial justice.'" International Shoe Co. v. Washington,

326 U.S. 310, 316 (1945) (quoting Milliken v. Myer, 311 U.S. 457,

463 (1940)).

As we explained more fully in Lesnick v. Hollingsworth & Vose

Co., 35 F.3d 939, 941-46 (4th Cir. 1994), and reiterated in Stover, 84

F.3d at 136, the jurisprudence of minimum contacts has developed as

a surrogate for presence in the state because "[a] state's sovereignty

remains territorial, and its judicial power extends over only those persons, property, and activities within its borders." Id. A state's laws

"have no operation in other states except as allowed by those states

or by comity." Id. The question, then, is whether a defendant's con-

 6
tacts with the forum state are so substantial that they amount to a surrogate for presence and thus render the exercise of sovereignty just,

notwithstanding the lack of physical presence in the state. "[I]t is

essential in each case that there be some act by which the defendant

purposefully avails itself of the privilege of conducting activities

within the forum State, thus invoking the benefits and protections of

its laws." Hanson v. Denckla, 357 U.S. 235, 253 (1958). Such activities need not involve physical presence in the state, but must still be

"purposefully directed toward the forum state." Lesnick, 35 F.3d at

945; see also Burger King Corp. v. Rudzewicz, 471 U.S. 462, 475-76

(1985).

It is now generally accepted that when the plaintiff's cause of

action does not arise from the defendant's contacts with the forum

state so as to provide "specific jurisdiction" for the claim based on the

"`relationship among the defendant, the forum, and the litigation,'"

Helicopteros Nacionales de Columba v. Hall, 466 U.S. 408, 414

(1984) (quoting Shaffer v. Heitner, 433 U.S. 186, 204 (1977)), "general jurisdiction" may nevertheless be asserted over a defendant

whose activities in the forum state have been "continuous and systematic." Id. at 414-15 (citations omitted). But the threshold level of

minimum contacts to confer general jurisdiction is significantly

higher than for specific jurisdiction. See generally 4 Charles Alan

Wright & Arthur R. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure § 1067,

at 295-98 (1987)("threshold contacts required for general jurisdiction

are very substantial, indeed"). In the case before us, the ESAB Group

argues that standards for both general and specific jurisdiction have

been met. We will address each in order.

A

The ESAB Group contends that Centricut and Aley have sufficiently "continuous and systematic" contacts with South Carolina to

justify its exercise of general in personam jurisdiction, presumably

under S.C. Code Ann. § 36-2-803(1)(d). We disagree.

Although 26 of Centricut's customers reside in South Carolina, all

are mail order customers and Centricut does not service them in South

Carolina. It maintains no sales representatives or other agents there,

and the business attributable to Centricut's South Carolina customers

 7
constitutes less than one-tenth of one percent of its nationwide sales

volume. These contacts, we believe, fall far short of the more extensive contacts that we have found sufficient in our general jurisdiction

cases.

In Ratliff v. Cooper Labs., Inc., 444 F.2d 745, 748 (4th Cir. 1971),

we held that where a defendant does no more than advertise and

employ salesmen in a forum state, such contacts are not sufficient to

justify general jurisdiction. We followed Ratliff with our decision in

Lee v. Walworth Valve Co., 482 F.2d 297 (4th Cir. 1973), in which

we upheld general jurisdiction over a company whose annual sales in

the forum were approximately $200,000 and where sales representatives spent approximately 80 days per year in the forum state. But the

exercise of jurisdiction there was unusual because it was supported in

part by the fact that the cause of action arose on the high seas and thus

did not arise within the sovereign boundaries of any of the United

States. Our decisions since Lee make clear that even the contacts in

Lee were marginal.

In Wolf, for example, we found no general jurisdiction based on a

Georgia hospital's substantial, though largely unsolicited contacts

with South Carolina. We explained that Lee was informed by the consideration of "whether there [was] `any other state whose courts might

provide a more likely forum.'" 745 F.2d at 912 (quoting Lee, 482

F.2d at 299). Finally, in Nichols v. G.D. Searle & Co., 991 F.2d 1195

(4th Cir. 1993), we followed Ratliff and held that a court in Maryland

could not assert general jurisdiction over a company that employed 13

Maryland residents as sales representatives and one Maryland resident

as a district manager. Moreover, the defendant held district meetings

three times annually in Maryland, held regional and national meetings

twice annually, and had between $9 million and $13 million annual

sales in Maryland, constituting two percent of its total sales. In addition, the defendant contracted with the Maryland firm for pharmaceutical research and made roughly one percent of its annual purchases

in Maryland. Although the fact that none of the plaintiffs in Nichols

were Maryland residents entered into our analysis, see id. at 1199 n.3,

residency alone was not dispositive of the issue of whether the defendant had sufficient contacts to warrant jurisdiction. See Keeton v.

Hustler Magazine, Inc., 465 U.S. 770, 779-80 (1984) ("[p]laintiff's

residence in the forum State is not a separate requirement, and lack

 8
of residence will not defeat jurisdiction established on the basis of

defendant's contacts"). Indeed, a forum state's interest in adjudicating

the claims is merely one factor to consider once the defendant's contacts with the state have been established. See , e.g., id.

When compared with the level of contacts that we found insufficient in both Ratliff and Nichols, Centricut's contacts with South Carolina are far less extensive. Moreover, we do not find Centricut's

contacts to be constitutionally sufficient even when we consider that,

unlike Nichols, South Carolina courts in this case would be seeking

to vindicate the interests of their own citizens. Centricut's South Carolina contacts are not even as extensive as those present in Lee, where

there was the additional consideration that no state had an obvious

connection with the cause of action. In sum, we conclude that South

Carolina may not exercise general jurisdiction over Centricut and

Aley consistent with the constitutional guarantee of due process.

Accordingly, a federal district court cannot do so pursuant to Federal

Rule Civil Procedure 4(k)(1)(A).

B

Even if Centricut's contacts with South Carolina are not sufficiently continuous and systematic to justify general jurisdiction, the

ESAB Group contends that specific jurisdiction may nonetheless be

exercised as to the causes of action before the court. With respect to

specific jurisdiction, "[t]he touchstone . . . remains that an out-of-state

person have engaged in some activity purposefully directed toward

the forum state." Lesnick, 35 F.3d at 945. The contacts related to the

cause of action must create a "substantial connection" with the forum

state, see McGee v. International Life Ins. Co. , 355 U.S. 220, 223

(1957), although this connection need not be as extensive as is necessary for general jurisdiction. As with general jurisdiction, however,

the defendant's actions must be directed at the forum state in more

than a random, fortuitous, or attenuated way. See Burger King, 471

U.S. at 475; Keeton, 465 U.S. at 774; World-Wide Volkswagen Corp.

v. Woodson, 444 U.S. 286, 299 (1980).

In the case before us, New Hampshire residents Centricut and Aley

allegedly entered into a relationship with Bergen, a resident of Florida. All relations among the three were carried out in and between

 9
New Hampshire and Florida. The only South Carolina"contact"

related to this suit is that Centricut and Aley knew that the sales leads

that Bergen supplied might, if fruitful, ultimately result in less sales

to the ESAB Group, which was headquartered in South Carolina.

Indeed, at the very most, it can be said that Centricut intended to gain

a competitive advantage (allegedly tortiously) over the ESAB Group

by making sales which the ESAB Group might otherwise have made.

We believe, however, that such knowledge and intent is too attenuated to constitute a "substantial connection" with South Carolina. The

evidence presented indicates that Bergen's leads were for companies

located across the United States and Canada. Only one such company

appears to have been located in South Carolina, and the evidence

presented indicates that no sales in South Carolina were ever made

based upon Bergen's leads. This activity, standing alone, does not

support proof of an intent by Centricut to avail itself of the privilege

of conducting activities in South Carolina. See Hanson, 357 U.S. at

253 ("The unilateral activity of those who claim some relationship

with a nonresident defendant cannot satisfy the requirement of contact

with the forum state"). Nor does it manifest behavior intentionally targeted at and focused on South Carolina, see Calder v. Jones, 465 U.S.

784, 789-90 (1984) (jurisdiction of forum state upheld where libel

"expressly aimed" at forum state with knowledge that "potentially

devastating impact" would be felt there), such that Centricut can be

said to have "entered" South Carolina in some fashion, see

Indianapolis Colts, Inc. v. Metropolitan Baltimore Football Club Ltd.

Partnership, 34 F.3d 410, 412 (7th Cir. 1994) (discussing Calder).

Instead, Centricut focused its activities more generally on customers

located throughout the United States and Canada without focusing on

and targeting South Carolina. Cf. Calder , 465 U.S. at 789 (distinguishing case before it from "untargeted" conduct).

The ESAB Group contends, however, that, wherever the sales were

made by Centricut, and thus lost by the ESAB Group, they were ultimately felt in South Carolina at the ESAB Group's headquarters.

While this is undoubtedly true, when unaccompanied by other contacts, it is ultimately too unfocused to justify personal jurisdiction. See

Indianapolis Colts, 34 F.3d at 412 (noting that in cases upholding

jurisdiction based on injury in the forum state to intellectual property

or reputation, "[t]he defendant had also`entered' the state in some

fashion"). Instead of grounding jurisdiction on a defendant's decision

 10
to "purposely avail[ ] itself of the privilege of conducting activities

within the forum state," Hanson, 357 U.S. at 253, or on a defendant's

activities "expressly aimed" at the forum state, Calder, 465 U.S. at

789, jurisdiction would depend on a plaintiff's decision about where

to establish residence. Such a theory would always make jurisdiction

appropriate in a plaintiff's home state, for the plaintiff always feels

the impact of the harm there. Although the place that the plaintiff

feels the alleged injury is plainly relevant to the inquiry, it must ultimately be accompanied by the defendant's own contacts with the state

if jurisdiction over the defendant is to be upheld. Because those contacts in this case were too attenuated and insubstantial to provide a

constitutionally sufficient basis for South Carolina courts to exercise

either specific or general in personam jurisdiction over Centricut, the

district court could not exercise in personam jurisdiction pursuant to

service under Rule 4(k)(1)(A).

III

Although we conclude that personal jurisdiction may not be exercised over Centricut and Aley under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure

4(k)(1)(A) because a South Carolina court could not assert such jurisdiction, we must now address the ESAB Group's alternative basis for

personal jurisdiction based on 18 U.S.C. § 1965(b).

One of the sources enumerated in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure

4(k) for service that effectively enables the exercise of personal jurisdiction over a defendant is "a statute of the United States." See Fed.

R. Civ. P. 4(k)(1)(D). In this case, a federal statute does authorize

such service.

In enacting the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970, Pub. L. No.

91-452, 84 Stat. 922 (1970), reprinted in 1970 U.S.C.C.A.N. 1073,

Congress prohibited various activities generally associated with organized crime. See 18 U.S.C. § 1962. In addition to providing criminal

penalties, see 18 U.S.C. § 1963, Congress granted a private civil right

of action to "[a]ny person injured in his business or property by reason of a violation of" the RICO provisions. 18 U.S.C. § 1964(c). The

RICO statute authorizes venue for civil actions in any district in

which the defendant "resides, is found, has an agent, or transacts his

affairs." 18 U.S.C. § 1965(a). And it authorizes service of process "in

 11
any judicial district in which such person resides, is found, has an

agent, or transacts his affairs," 18 U.S.C. § 1965(d), evidencing Congress' desire that "[p]rovision [be] made for nationwide venue and

service of process." H. Rep. No. 91-1549, at 4 (1970), reprinted in

1970 U.S.C.C.A.N. 4007, 4010. Although 18 U.S.C.§ 1965 is entitled "Venue and process," the fact that it also authorizes service of

process makes it relevant to personal jurisdiction because of Federal

Rule of Civil Procedure 4(k)(1)(D). "Where," as here, "Congress has

authorized nationwide service of process . . . so long as the assertion

of jurisdiction over the defendant is compatible with due process, the

service of process is sufficient to establish the jurisdiction of the federal court over the person of the defendant." Hogue v. Milodon Eng'g,

Inc., 736 F.2d 989, 991 (4th Cir. 1984); see also Republic of Panama

v. BCCI Holdings (Luxembourg) S.A., 119 F.3d 935, 942 (11th Cir.

1997) (section 1965(d) of RICO statute, providing for service in any

judicial district in which defendant is found, provides statutory basis

for personal jurisdiction).

The due process constraint on service under Federal Rule of Civil

Procedure 4(b)(1)(D), is not, however, grounded in the Fourteenth

Amendment, which circumscribes service under state process pursuant to Rule 4(b)(1)(A). See Republic of Panama , 119 F.3d at 942;

Hogue, 736 F.2d at 991. Rather, it is the Due Process Clause of the

Fifth Amendment which constrains the exercise of the federal government's sovereign powers. See id.; Omni Capital, 484 U.S. at 103-04;

Insurance Corp. of Ireland, Ltd. v. Compagnie des Bauxites, 456 U.S.

694, 702 n.10 (1982). The Fifth Amendment's Due Process Clause

not only limits the extraterritorial scope of federal sovereign power,

but also protects the liberty interests of individuals against unfair burden and inconvenience. See, e.g., Republic of Panama, 119 F.3d at

945-48; cf. World-Wide Volkswagen, 444 U.S. at 291-92 (noting that

the minimum contacts test under the Fourteenth Amendment's Due

Process Clause functions both to protect states in their status as equal

sovereigns and to protect individuals against unfair burden and inconvenience). However, when the defendant is located within the United

States, he "must look primarily to federal venue requirements for protection from onerous litigation," Hogue, 736 F.2d at 991, because "it

is only in highly unusual cases that inconvenience will rise to a level

of constitutional concern," Republic of Panama, 119 F.3d at 947.

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In this case, both Centricut and Aley have been served with process

in a judicial district where they respectively reside, are found, or

transact their affairs. Because they have been validly served pursuant

to RICO's nationwide service provision, 18 U.S.C.§ 1965(d), in

personam jurisdiction over them is established, provided that such

jurisdiction comports with the Fifth Amendment. We believe that it

does, discerning no evidence from the record in this case of such

extreme inconvenience or unfairness as would outweigh the congressionally articulated policy of allowing the assertion of in personam

jurisdiction in South Carolina. See 4 Wright & Miller, § 1067.1, at

331 (1987) (congressional policy choice that includes nationwide service of process "should be afforded substantial weight"); see also

Republic of Panama, 119 F.3d at 948 (noting that"the burden is on

the defendant" to show that the burden of distant litigation is so great

as to put him at a "severe disadvantage"). Nor do we believe the dictates of judicial efficiency counsel so strongly against a federal forum

in South Carolina that constitutional due process is offended. While

there is no doubt some inconvenience to the defendants in having to

defend this action in South Carolina, it is not so extreme as to defeat

the exercise of personal jurisdiction pursuant to valid service of process, although it may certainly factor into a transfer decision. See id.

at 947 n.25. Accordingly, we hold that the district court in South Carolina may constitutionally exercise in personam jurisdiction over both

Centricut and Aley.

In so holding, we do not decide any issues of venue raised by the

defendants. We note that although the district court essentially found

that Centricut transacts its affairs in South Carolina by virtue of having suppliers and customers there, it made no findings as to whether

Aley "transacts his affairs" (emphasis added) in South Carolina, as is

required by 28 U.S.C. § 1965(a). That may mean that with respect to

Aley venue is not proper in South Carolina under§ 1965(a). The district court may ultimately have to decide whether venue is proper,

either under 18 U.S.C. § 1965(a) or (b), or under the general venue

statutes. The question of in personam jurisdiction, however, depends

on whether service of process has been authorized. Section 1965(d)

authorizes service of process "in any judicial district in which such

person . . . is found." Because service was accomplished on the defendants where they were found, personal jurisdiction was established.

 13
IV

Even though the district court has personal jurisdiction over the

defendants to adjudicate the RICO claim because of its authorization

for nationwide service of process, the question remains whether that

service authorizes the district court to assert personal jurisdiction over

the defendants to adjudicate the state law claims against them. If a

defendant's conduct in the forum state provides insufficient contacts

with the state to justify specific long-arm jurisdiction, two questions

arise: First, whether the defendant has reasonable expectations not to

be tried there on the state claims, which may not even arise under the

laws of the forum state; and second, whether the defendant in these

circumstances has a constitutional protection against adjudication of

the state claims against him in a state which is not authorized to assert

personal jurisdiction over him. These questions have not been

answered in this circuit.

The existence of these questions highlights the substantial variations in authorization provided by the sources enumerated in Federal

Rule of Civil Procedure 4(k) for service of process. Even for federal

claims, the effective territorial authority of the federal court may differ significantly from case to case, depending on the federal statute

involved. For example, if the claim is based on a federal statute authorizing nationwide service of process, personal jurisdiction may be

asserted over a defendant anywhere in the country, whereas if the statute creating the federal claim does not provide for nationwide service

of process, process may extend only to the boundaries of the state in

which the district lies. This poses an infrequently presented question:

If a case includes a claim brought under a federal statute authorizing

a nationwide service of process and another claim under a statute or

under state law for which nationwide service of process is not available, does the court have personal jurisdiction over the defendant to

adjudicate the entire case?

A somewhat analogous problem arose in the context of subject

matter jurisdiction, which, of course, is quite distinct in principle from

personal jurisdiction. See Compagnie des Bauxites, 456 U.S. at 701-

05. Nevertheless, the analogy is useful. To resolve the problem of

whether a federal court which is presented with the resolution of a

federal claim may also resolve state claims arising out of the same

 14
nucleus of operative fact, the Supreme Court developed the doctrine

of pendent jurisdiction. See, e.g., United Mine Workers v. Gibbs, 383

U.S. 715 (1966). Under that doctrine, when a claim authorized by federal law and by Article III of the Constitution is properly in a federal

court, and that claim is so related to a state claim not independently

subject to federal jurisdiction that the two may be considered "one

constitutional case," the federal court has pendent jurisdiction to adjudicate the state claim. Id. at 725. The Court articulated the necessary

and proper relationship between the claims that they"must derive

from a common nucleus of operative fact." Id . But even so, pendent

jurisdiction is a discretionary power which is exercised in furtherance

of "judicial economy, convenience and fairness to the litigants." Id.

at 726. The doctrine has since been codified at 28 U.S.C. § 1367.

We believe that similar considerations urge that we recognize pendent personal jurisdiction of a district court which has obtained personal jurisdiction over a defendant by reason of a federal claim to

adjudicate state claims properly within the court's subject matter

jurisdiction, even though that state's long-arm statute could not authorize service over the defendants with respect to the state claims.

When a federal statute authorizes a federal district court to exercise

personal jurisdiction over a defendant beyond the borders of the district and the defendant is effectively brought before the court, we can

find little reason not to authorize the court to adjudicate a state claim

properly within the court's subject matter jurisdiction so long as the

facts of the federal and state claims arise from a common nucleus of

operative fact. The defendant will have to adjudicate the facts of the

federal claim, and it could impose only a minimal burden to require

the defendant to provide a defense on the factually-related state claim.

We agree with the observation that

judicial economy and convenience of the parties is best

facilitated by a consideration of all legal theories arising

from a single set of operative facts. . . . Once that set of facts

and defendants are legitimately before th[e] court . . . little

would be gained by not requiring a defendant to defend

against a certain type of theory superimposed upon those

facts.

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Sohns v. Dahl, 392 F. Supp. 1208, 1218 (W.D. Va. 1975). Accordingly, we conclude that under the doctrine of pendent personal jurisdiction, the district court has authority over the defendants to decide

both the federal and the state claims alleged against them. In recognizing pendent personal jurisdiction, we join the other circuits that

have done so. See IUE AFL-CIO Pension Fund v. Herrmann, 9 F.3d

1049, 1056 (2d Cir. 1993); see also Oetiker v. Jurid Werke, G.m.b.H.,

556 F.2d 1, 4-5 (D.C. Cir. 1977); Robinson v. Penn Central Co., 484

F.2d 553, 555 (3d Cir. 1973).

Our recognition of pendent personal jurisdiction should present no

constitutional objection any more serious than did pendent jurisdiction involving the court's subject matter jurisdiction. Once a court has

a constitutional case, in the Article III sense, properly before it, service by a court sufficient to assert personal jurisdiction over a defendant by any authorized mechanism consistent with due process may

be held to apply to the entire constitutional case. In this case, the parties agree that the federal court has subject matter jurisdiction over the

ESAB Group's claims and is thus competent to adjudicate them. They

also agree that the factual nucleus for the state claims and the RICO

claim is the same. Since the court has personal jurisdiction over the

defendants under service of process authorized by the Federal Rule of

Civil Procedure 4(b)(1)(D) and by the RICO statute, we can find no

constitutional bar to requiring the defendants to defend the entire constitutional case, which includes both federal and state claims arising

from the same nucleus of facts, so long as the federal claim is not

wholly immaterial or insubstantial. See Republic of Panama, 119 F.3d

at 942, 951 & n.26.

For the reasons provided in this opinion, we reverse the ruling of

the district court that the defendants were properly served under South

Carolina's long-arm statute but affirm its conclusion that the district

court has personal jurisdiction over Centricut and Aley. The case is

remanded for further proceedings.

IT IS SO ORDERED

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