In personam actions are said to be either local or transitory. The plaintiff's attorney may file a local action only where the subject matter of the litigation is located. For example, a party suing to foreclose a mortgage on real property must file the action in the county where the property is situated. Transitory actions, on the other hand, are much broader.
The plaintiff may bring a transitory action in any county in any state where the defendant may be found and served with process. An action for personal injuries resulting from a defective bottle of beer is an example of a transitory action.
In the present court system, the law determines in personam jurisdiction through mutual consent of the parties much more heavily than it used to.
Corporations who do business in a state and motorists who drive across a state are said to have consented to the jurisdiction of that state's trial court under the long-arm statute, which makes it easier for a state to prosecute lawbreakers who don't reside in the state where they violated the law.