All companies registered to do business in Pennsylvania are subject to the courts’ general jurisdiction

In a decision not following developing nationwide rulings regarding the effect of registration to do business, the Pennsylvania Superior Court, in a unanimous decision, held that foreign companies that register to do business in Pennsylvania have “consented” to general personal jurisdiction in the Commonwealth. The Court in Webb-Benjamin, LLC v. International Rug Group, LLC, rejected the trial court’s holding that Pennsylvania courts lacked general jurisdiction over the foreign defendant for its out-of-state activities. The Court reasoned that general jurisdiction by consent survives due process analysis even under the Supreme Court of the United States’ restrictive decision in Daimler AG v. Bauman (without addressing the Supreme Court’s decision in Goodyear Dunlop Tires Operations, S.A. v. Brown or their progeny). Webb-Benjamin is the first appellate-level authority in Pennsylvania on the issue of whether registration establishes general jurisdiction by consent. 

Click here to read the full alert. This article by Edward Sholinsky and Jonathan Skowron was also published by the Pittsburgh Business Times.