aggregation of jurisdictional amount

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A party with multiple claims may wish to aggregate them to meet the jurisdictional amount (also known as amount in controversy) requirement for their desired court. The current amount in controversy requirement is $75,000. While this practice is generally not permitted, a few exceptions apply:

  • A party can aggregate as many claims as they wish against the same party to meet the amount in controversy requirement. That said, alternative theories of recovery for the same claim do not contribute to the amount in controversy.
    • For example; if a person crashed into your car, which was worth $40,000, you can not meet the amount in controversy requirement by claiming that the person both failed to stop at a stop sign and was texting on their phone. Regardless of both claims being correct, the most you can recover is still $40,000 which is under the $75,000 requirement. 
  • Aggregation between the claims of two or more separate people is permitted when the controversy concerns a common and undivided interest like joint ownership of the same property or the same conduct by the same employer

[Last updated in June of 2022 by the Wex Definitions Team]