Personal jurisdiction is the authority a court has to make legally enforceable orders related to a person or entity and the property of the person or entity, and usually arises when a person has been sued in a lawsuit. For a court to have personal jurisdiction, the person or entity generally (1) must be a resident of the state in which the court is located; (2) as a nonresident, must have initiated sufficient minimum contacts with the state in which the lawsuit is filed; or (3) must have agreed to be governed by the laws of the state (in a contract or website terms) in which the lawsuit is filed.

In Virginia, personal jurisdiction refers to the power of a Virginia court to bring a person or entity into its legal process and to make decisions that are binding upon them. For a Virginia court to establish personal jurisdiction, the person or entity sued (the defendant) must have a significant connection to the state. This can be established if the defendant is a resident of Virginia or if the nonresident defendant has sufficient minimum contacts with the state, such as conducting business or committing a tortious act within Virginia. Additionally, personal jurisdiction can be consented to if a person or entity agrees to the jurisdiction of Virginia courts, which can occur through contractual agreements or by accepting the terms of service on a website that includes such a provision. Virginia's long-arm statute also allows courts to exercise jurisdiction over nonresidents in certain circumstances, extending the reach of Virginia's jurisdiction to the fullest extent permissible under the Due Process Clause of the U.S. Constitution.