Litigation tourist plaintiffs have been taking it on the chin lately when it comes to personal jurisdiction. Here’s another example. Durham v. LG Chem, Ltd., 2022 WL 274498 (11th Cir. Jan. 31, 2022), is not a drug and device case and not precedential (note: the Fed. Appx. reporter is no more), but is nonetheless
Personal Jurisdiction
Pennsylvania Supreme Court: Registering to Do Business Does Not Constitute Consent to General Personal Jurisdiction
In law as in real estate, “location, location, location.” Where a case is filed is often outcome-determinative. Jury pools and jurisprudence vary from one jurisdiction to the next. In some states, any complaint written on paper is sufficient; in others, a plaintiff must actually plead facts to avoid dismissal. Similarly, juries in some places routinely…
Sometimes the Tea Leaves are Right
A little over a year ago, the Supreme Court heard argument in Ford Motor Co. v. Montana Eight Judicial District Court, 141 S.Ct. 1017 (2021) regarding an issue of personal jurisdiction. At that time, we tried our hand at reading the tea leaves and made this prediction about how the Ford Motor decision might adversely…
New Mexico Rejects Corporate Registration as Basis for Personal Jurisdiction
New Mexico calls itself the Land of Enchantment, and with good reason. Carlsbad Caverns, White Sands National Monument, the Albuquerque Balloon Festival, the ski slopes of Taos, and Chaco Culture National Historic Park are all splendid visual treasures. A green chili burger is a lovely work of art. And there is a reason all that…
D. Mass. Rules for Defendant in Denying Remand and Finding No Personal Jurisdiction
Judge Burroughs up in Boston recently wrote a clear and correct opinion regarding corporate citizenship, principal place of business, personal jurisdiction, and jurisdictional discovery. She was short and to the point, and we will try to be so as well.
The case is Lopez v. Angiodynamics, Inc., 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 208161 (D. Mass. Oct.…
New York Rejects General Jurisdiction by Consent to Service
Today’s decision strays from the field of prescription drug/device law, but we take this detour because Aybar v. Aybar, 2021 N.Y. LEXIS 2134 (N.Y. Ct. App. Oct. 7, 2021) is an important jurisdictional decision – one with over 100 years of legal precedent to sort out.
Plaintiffs were involved in an automobile accident in…
Georgia Somewhat Reluctantly Allows General Jurisdiction by Consent
Sooner or later we knew it would happen. The law on general jurisdiction by consent has been developing very favorably – maybe even too favorably. Since Daimler AG v. Bauman, 571 U. S. 117 (2014), almost every appellate decision (including every state court of last resort and federal circuit court) has rejected general jurisdiction…
Zantac Chronicles VII & VIII − Innovator Liability and Pharmacy Liability Tossed Again
Today, we chronicle two more decisions from the Zantac MDL. Once again, kudos to this MDL transferee judge for outstanding willingness to tackle legal issues, and decide them, at an early stage of the litigation. Because we’ve gone through these issues before, here and here, we discuss these latest rulings in one post.
Chronicle …
Location May Be Key For Real Estate, But It’s Not Enough for Personal Jurisdiction
Talk to any realtor and they’ll tell you location is the key to any home search. And normally when we rail against litigation tourists, location is pretty key to us too. Plaintiffs can’t forum shop for “judicial hellholes” that have no relation to them or to the defendant. So, you’ve probably heard us say plaintiffs…
Massachusetts Sends Litigation Tourist Packing
What happens when a plaintiff from Kentucky sues a New York company in Massachusetts? The case gets tossed for lack of personal jurisdiction. That is exactly what happened in Kingston v. Angiodynamics, Inc., 2021 WL 3022320 (D. Mass. Jul. 16, 2021). It is what should have happened in Hammons v. Ethicon, Inc., 240…