上述两个术语之间的差异在于general appearance (一般性出庭）是指出庭当事人承认法院的司法管辖权，并接受法院所有的裁决，但就法院对该当事人是否具有管辖权一事之裁决则除外[1]。与此刚好相反，special appearance (特别出庭）则是指当事人出庭的唯一目的只是为弄清法院是否对自己有属人管辖权[2]。根据美国《联邦民事诉讼规程》以及凡是采用了该规程之州的规定，special appearance 和 general appearance 已经被废除，故凡联邦法院和有关州的法院均不再使用这两种出庭方式， 当事人有关管辖权限问题的异议可在诉辩状或审判前的动议中提出[3]。

[1]“A court appearance by which a party submits to the jurisdiction of the court esp. by asking for any relief other than a ruling that the court has no jurisdiction over the appearing party”Cf. Linda Picard Wood, J. D. Merriam Webster's Dictionary of Law, at p. 211，Merriam-Webster, Incorporated (1996).

[2]“An appearance by a party in court for the sole purpose of challenging the court's assertion of personal jurisdiction over the party.”Id. at p. 461.

[3]“Under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the rules of states that have adopted it, the use of a special appearance to challenge jurisdiction has been abolished，and jurisdiction may be challenged in the pleadings or in a pretrial motion. ”Id. at p. 461.