Georgia Supreme Court Finds Out-of-State Entity Authorized To Do Business In State Is Subject To General Personal Jurisdiction

• Published date: 27 December 2021
• Subject Matter: Corporate/Commercial Law, Litigation, Mediation & Arbitration, Corporate and Company Law, Trials & Appeals & Compensation, Personal Injury
• Law Firm: Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP
• Author: Mr Lee Schmeer

The Georgia Supreme Court recently stood by a 1992 case holding that a foreign company that is authorized to do business in the state subjects itself to general personal jurisdiction, although it noted the "trajectory" of U.S. Supreme Court general jurisdiction jurisprudence is trending markedly in the direction of curtailing the extent to which courts can subject foreign corporations to general jurisdiction.

In Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. v. McCall, the Florida-domiciled plaintiff alleged he sustained injuries while travelling in Florida when the rear tire of his car failed. The plaintiff sued the tire manufacturer, a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in Ohio, in Georgia state court. The issue before the court was whether its former decision in Allstate Ins. Co. v. Klein, 422 S.E.2d 863 (1992), which held that authorization to conduct business in Georgia confers general jurisdiction over foreign businesses, still was good law. Despite the recent line of U.S. Supreme Court cases that have narrowed general jurisdiction over foreign corporations, see, e.g., Daimler AG v. Bauman, 571 U.S. 117 (2014), the court rooted its analysis in a 1917 U.S. Supreme Court case that it believed established and permitted "consent by registration," Pennsylvania Fire Ins. Co. v. Gold Issue Mining & Milling Co., 243 U.S. 93, and noted that the U.S. Supreme Court never has expressly overruled Pennsylvania Fire. Thus, in the Georgia Supreme Court's view, consent by registration is alive and well in the Peach State.

Georgia is not alone in grappling with this contentious issue. Schnader's Bruce Merenstein recently argued a similar case before...