On February 1st, a building owner in New York, Barry Builder, contracted with a tenant from New Jersey, Lisa Leaser, for the lease of Barry Builder's building in Baltimore, MD beginning on April 1st. At the same time, Barry Builder contracted with Caren's Construction, a Baltimore, MD business, to renovate the building. The contract between Barry Builder and Caren's Construction specified that all renovations were to be completed no later than March 20th.

The lease agreement between Barry Builder and Lisa Leaser contained a clause providing that if the building were not ready for occupancy by April 1st, Barry Builder would pay the costs incident to storing Lisa Leaser's business inventory until such time that Barry Builder's building would be ready. As of April 1st, Caren's Construction had not completed the agreed upon renovations, which prompted Barry Builder to file a lawsuit against the renovation company seeking to recover not only the rental value of the building during the period of delay but also the amount that he had been obliged to pay Lisa Leaser for storing her inventory.

Questions:

A. Which court has original jurisdiction and why?

B. What is the most likely venue for the case and why?

C. What type (in personam, in rem, quasi in rem) jurisdiction would the court (identified in your answer A) have for this case? Explain your answer.

D. Should a jury be demanded in this case? Why or why not?

E. If the contract between Barry Builder and Caren's Construction contained more conditions, and if Lisa Leaser was one of 40 potential tenants affected, would your answer to the previous question change? Explain.