Georgia Supreme Court Upholds Its Stance On General Personal Jurisdiction' For Now

• Published date: 04 October 2021
• Subject Matter: Corporate/Commercial Law, Litigation, Mediation & Arbitration, Corporate and Company Law, Trials & Appeals & Compensation
• Law Firm: Freeman Mathis & Gary
• Author: Mr Tyler Connor

For years, corporations throughout the United States were subject to broad general personal jurisdiction allowing plaintiffs to "forum shop" for a plaintiff-friendly jurisdiction. In Daimler AG v. Bauman, 517 U.S. 117 (2014), the United States Supreme Court limited the scope of the "general" personal jurisdiction doctrine to those states where a corporation is incorporated or has its principal place of business as a broad interpretation violated due process. Since the Supreme Court's decision, other states have held that a company merely registering to do business in a state will not subject it to the general personal jurisdiction of the courts of that state. See, Waite v. AII Acquisition Corp., 901 F3d 1307 (11th Cir. 2018) (holding that Florida law did not either expressly or by state-court construction establish that registration to do business and appointment of an agent for service of process in Florida amounted to consent to general personal jurisdiction); see also DeLeon v. BNSF Railway Co., 426 P.3d 1, 392 Mont. 446 (2018) (holding that a foreign corporation's act of registering to do business in Montana and conducting in-state business activities did not amount to general personal jurisdiction).

On September 21, 2021, the Georgia Supreme Court issued its opinion in Cooper Tire & Rubber Company v. McCall, S20G1368 on whether Georgia courts can exercise general personal jurisdiction over non-Georgia corporations merely based on their registration to do business in Georgia. In Cooper Tire, plaintiff brought a products liability suit against Cooper Tire and two other defendants in a Georgia state court. Cooper Tire filed a motion to dismiss arguing that it is a nonresident corporate defendant with only...