Jerry W. Gunn, et al., Petitioners v. Vernon F. Minton

Decided February 20, 2013. John Glover Roberts Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 11-1118 · 568 U.S. 251 (2013) · Cited 2,420 times

Holding

Section 1338(a) does not deprive the state courts of subject matter jurisdiction over Minton’s malpractice claim.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 9–0.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Grable & Sons Metal Products, Inc. v. Darue Engineering & Manufacturing · 545 U.S. 308 (2005)
• Empire Healthchoice Assurance, Inc. v. McVeigh · 547 U.S. 677 (2006)
• Tafflin v. Levitt · 493 U.S. 455 (1990)
• Kokkonen v. Guardian Life Insurance Co. of America · 511 U.S. 375 (1994)
• Franchise Tax Bd. of Cal. v. Construction Laborers Vacation Trust for Southern Cal. · 463 U.S. 1 (1983)
• Powell v. McCormack · 395 U.S. 486 (1969)
• Christianson v. Colt Industries Operating Corp. · 486 U.S. 800 (1988)
• Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc. v. Thompson Ex Rel. Thompson · 478 U.S. 804 (1986)
• Osborn v. Bank of United States · 22 U.S. 738 (1824)
• Ohralik v. Ohio State Bar Assn. · 436 U.S. 447 (1978)
• Goldfarb v. Virginia State Bar · 421 U.S. 773 (1975)
• American Well Works Company v. Layne and Bowler Company · 241 U.S. 257 (1916)
• Bonito Boats, Inc. v. Thunder Craft Boats, Inc. · 489 U.S. 141 (1989)
• Shulthis v. McDougal · 225 U.S. 561 (1912)
• Pfaff v. Wells Electronics, Inc. · 525 U.S. 55 (1998)
• Shoshone Mining Co. v. Rutter · 177 U.S. 505 (1900)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. v. Manning · 578 U.S. 374 (2016)
• Atlantic Richfield Co. v. Christian · 590 U.S. 1 (2020)
• Royal Canin U. S. A. v. Wullschleger · 604 U.S. 22 (2025)
• Badgerow v. Walters · 596 U.S. 1 (2022)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

Explore from here

John Glover Roberts Jr.’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2013). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).