On Friday, Aug. 15, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed Senate Bill 328 (“SB 328”), which permits toxic tort lawsuits against companies that operate in Illinois even in situations where the defendant company and individual...more
Amended Illinois Senate Bill 328, which passed both chambers of the Illinois legislature on 1 June 2025, was officially signed into law by Governor Jay Robert “JB” Pritzker on 15 August 2025 as Public Act 104-0352. The...more
In Mallory v. Norfolk Southern Railway Co.,[1] the U.S. Supreme Court clarified last year that states can require foreign entities to consent to personal jurisdiction as a condition for doing business within their borders. ...more
On June 27, 2023, Truck on highwaythe Supreme Court of the United States decided Mallory v. Norfolk Southern Railway Co., 600 U.S. 122 (2023). The divided Court upheld a Pennsylvania corporate registration statute which...more
Key Points: Corporation that registers to do business in New York does not necessarily consent to general personal jurisdiction. Proposed amendment to New York Business Corporation Law § 1301(e) would have overturned that...more
Sixth Circuit Rejects Overly Ambitious PFAS Class Action - Hardwick v. 3M Co. (In re E.I. du Pont de Nemours), No. 22-3765, 87 F.4th 315 (6th Cir. Nov. 27, 2023) - The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit...more
A popular New Year’s trend is to say “goodbye” to all the things that didn’t serve you in 2023, as you usher in new intentions and habits for 2024. Although there were many great trial outcomes and continuing scientific wins...more
The due process framework that has cabined personal jurisdiction over nationwide and global businesses for the last eight decades — since the U.S. Supreme Court's 1945 ruling in International Shoe Co. v. Washington — looks...more
In a case issued on June 27, 2023, a divided Supreme Court decided another important personal jurisdiction case – Mallory v. Norfolk Southern Railway Co., 2023 WL 4187749. The principal issue was whether a foreign corporation...more
When served with a summons and complaint for an out-of-state lawsuit, one of the first things a defendant is likely to ask is—can this court compel me to appear? Given that most transportation and logistics-related disputes...more
Air carrier liability has been governed by international convention nearly since the inception of the technology. In 1903, the Wright Brothers infamously conducted powered flight at Kitty Hawk. In 1919, the first reported...more
It is common knowledge that every state has some requirement that companies doing business in the state register to do so. However, under the most recent U.S. Supreme Court decision addressing personal jurisdiction, the mere...more
The Supreme Court issued 58 opinions in the October 2022 Term. Rulings in several cases will affect the practice of regulatory and administrative law either directly or indirectly, as is recounted below. Before the Court...more
Clients frequently ask whether a business entity needs to register to do business in a particular state with which the entity has begun to have some degree of ongoing contact. In responding we typically consider the state's...more
The test for personal jurisdiction, which asks whether a defendant can be compelled to litigate in a particular state, has been extensively developed over the past several decades, and notably refined in the last fifteen...more
If a Wisconsin citizen is injured in Wisconsin on the property of a Wisconsin company, where can the citizen sue the company? One option is where the accident occurred—Wisconsin. Another option is where the company is...more
The US Supreme Court recently issued a decision in Mallory v. Norfolk Southern Railway Co holding that a Pennsylvania statute requiring corporations to "consent" to suit in Pennsylvania courts in order to register to do...more
At the conclusion of its recent Term, the US Supreme Court finally released its long-anticipated opinion in Mallory v. Norfolk Southern Railroad, No. 21-1168. In our Part One alert from September 2022, we reported on the...more
Be cautious when deciding whether to do business in a state in way that requires you to register in that state; you may be consenting to general personal jurisdiction in that new state by doing so. On June 27, 2023, the...more
Every first-year law student learns two ways that a court can have jurisdiction over a corporate defendant. If the defendant has "minimum contacts" with a state, and the plaintiff's injuries arise out of those contacts, then...more
On June 27, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that states can require corporations registered in their state to consent to be sued in the state as a condition of doing business there—even if the facts of a lawsuit...more
In the July edition of our Public Company Watch, we cover key issues impacting public companies, including important reminders for companies’ upcoming Form 10-Q filings; the themes revealed by the 12 proxy contests that have...more
On June 27, 2023, the United States Supreme Court held in Mallory v. Norfolk Southern R. Co., No. 21-1168, 2023 WL 4187749, that Norfolk Southern submitted to the state of Pennsylvania’s general jurisdiction (that is, being...more
The Supreme Court has significantly expanded the possible grounds for personal jurisdiction against corporations, upholding Pennsylvania’s statute requiring foreign businesses registered in the Commonwealth to consent to...more
Here at Foley, we routinely represent companies, whether manufacturers, distributors, service providers, or others that are, by necessity, registered to do business in most or all of the fifty states. For years, the U.S....more