Opinion ID: 1929501
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Personal Jurisdiction Condition Precedent to Judicial Action

Text: Court of Chancery Rule 12(g) requires the consolidation of any 12(b) defenses in a single pre-answer motion. Moreover, a defendant may join an objection to personal jurisdiction, pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6), with any other defenses that are assertable in a Rule 12(b) motion, without waiving the jurisdictional challenge. 5A C. Wright & A. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure § 1351 at 243-44 (1990). Thus, Exide properly joined in one amended motion to dismiss, its objection to personal jurisdiction over the individual defendants, pursuant to Rule 12(b)(2), and its contention that the complaint failed to state a claim, pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6). Id. The operative effect of a dismissal depends upon the basis selected for granting the Rule 12(b) motion. Arrowsmith v. United Press International, 320 F.2d 219, 221 (2d Cir.1963). A dismissal for lack of jurisdiction or improper venue does not preclude a subsequent action in an appropriate forum, whereas a dismissal for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted is with prejudice. Id. Consequently, a court's finding of personal jurisdiction is not only a condition precedent to a proper exercise of its own judicial authority, but it is determinative of the course of other litigation between the same parties.