legal certainty test
legal-certainty test. Civil procedure. A test designed to determine whether the amount in controversy satisfies the minimum needed to establish the court’s jurisdiction. • The amount claimed in the complaint will control unless there is a “legal certainty” that the claim is actually less than the minimum amount. See AMOUNT IN CONTROVERSY. [Cases: Federal Courts 350, 359; Removal of Cases 75, 107(7). C.J.S. Removal of Causes §§ 5–6, 115, 127, 130, 157, 188–191.]
