Spain Mexico
Philadelphia, PA Cherry Hill, NJ New York, NY Roseland, NJ 1-866-LOCKSLAW
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn
Locks Law Firm
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn
Get Started
  • No win, no fee
  • Free consultation
  • Home
  • About
    • About Us
    • The Team
    • Office Locations
    • Newsroom
    • FAQ
  • About
    • About Us
    • The Team
    • Office Locations
    • Newsroom
    • FAQ
  • Practice Areas
  • Practice Areas
    • All Practice Areas
    • Medical Malpractice and Nursing Home Abuse
    • Environmental and Toxic Torts
    • Catastrophic Personal Injuries
    • Dangerous Drugs & Devices
  • Testimonials
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Get Started
  • Spain Mexico   Spanish
  • About
    • About Us
    • The Team
    • Office Locations
    • Newsroom
    • FAQ

    One of the most prominent personal injury law firms in the tri-state region, the Locks Law Firm is steadfastly committed to protecting the rights of seriously injured victims.

    Free Case Evaluation
  • Medical Malpractice and Nursing Home Abuse
    • Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect
    • Hospital Acquired Infections
    • Medication Errors
    • Misdiagnosis / Failure to Diagnose
    • Surgical Errors
    • Needle Stick - CRPS

    Medical malpractice is any act by a health care provider that deviates from accepted standards of medical care and results in the personal injury, disability, or wrongful death of a patient. Nursing home abuse or negligence can take many forms. It can include physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, neglect, negligent care, and even financial exploitation.

    Free Case Evaluation
  • Environmental and Toxic Torts
    • Asbestos and Mesothelioma
    • Benzene
    • Chemical Exposure
    • Manganese Exposure
    • Natural Resource Damages
    • Toxic Injuries
    • Workplace Exposure
    • Camp Lejeune Water Contamination

    Exposure to toxic chemicals in the workplace or environment can cause serious, sometimes fatal health problems, including cancer.

    Free Case Evaluation
  • Catastrophic Personal Injuries
    • Burns and Chemical Burns
    • Traumatic Brain Injuries
    • Spinal Cord Injuries
    • Wrongful Death

    Catastrophic personal injuries include brain and spinal cord injuries, severe burns, carbon monoxide poisoning and, most seriously, death.

    Free Case Evaluation
  • Dangerous Drugs & Devices
    • Allergan Breast Implant Recall
    • Hernia Mesh
    • IVC Filters
    • Philips Respironics Lawsuit
    • Zantac (ranitidine)
    • NEC Baby Formula

    At the Locks Law Firm, our pharmaceutical litigation and defective drug lawyers are committed to serving personal injury victims and are well versed in the product liability laws that protect consumers.

    Free Case Evaluation

Locks Law Firm

Philadelphia, PA

(215) 893-0100

Cherry Hill, NJ

(856) 663-8200

New York, NY

(212) 838-3333

Roseland, NJ

(973) 671-1940

Locks Law Firm

Philadelphia, PA

The Curtis Center
Suite 720 East
601 Walnut Street

Cherry Hill, NJ

801 North Kings Highway

New York, NY

622 Third Avenue | 7th FLoor

Roseland, NJ

3 Becker Farm Road
Suite 105

Locks Law Firm

Philadelphia, PA

[email protected]

Cherry Hill, NJ

[email protected]

New York, NY

[email protected]

Roseland, NJ

[email protected]

Blog

Three Ways to Catch an Out-of-State Corporation, Including Breaking News

Out-of-state corporations do not like to face justice from Philadelphia juries. Here is the status of three ways to catch an out-of-state corporation through personal jurisdiction.

Consent A Pennsylvania statute states that an out-of-state corporation’s registration to do business in Pennsylvania gives Pennsylvania courts general personal jurisdiction, that is, jurisdiction over all matters affecting that corporation, whether or not the incident occurred in Pennsylvania. See 42 Pa.C.S.A. §5301. Current law is that this is registration by consent and is valid. See Webb-Benjamin v. International Rug Group, LLC, 192 A.3d 1133 (Pa. Super. 2018). Federal courts in Pennsylvania agree. See, e.g., Aetna Inc. v. Kurtzman Carson Consultants, LLC, 2019 WL 1440046, *4-*6 (E.D. Pa., March 29, 2019).

However, this may change. A constitutional challenge to jurisdiction by consent from registration was raised in Murray v. American LaFrance, LLC, No. 2105-2111 EDA 2016. Argument before a nine-Judge en banc panel of the Superior Court is pending. A decision by that panel could well take months. Until and unless Murray changes the law, consent by registration is still the law.

In-State Activities Activities in Pennsylvania regarding the incident or product in question may give specific personal jurisdiction, that is, jurisdiction over the out-of-state corporation only for the incident or product in question. Recent cases have addressed this in the pelvic mesh litigation. Hammons v. Ethicon, 190 A.3d 1248 (Pa. Super. 2018) found jurisdiction from activities that included supervising the design and manufacturing of the product in Pennsylvania in collaboration with a Pennsylvania company, and working closely with a Pennsylvania physician in developing the product. A very recent Superior Court case addressing the same product held it was bound by Hammons to find jurisdiction. In re: Pelvic Mesh Litigation, 2019 WL 1486697 (Pa. Super., April 3, 2019) (non-precedential). An even more recent Superior Court opinion dealing with pelvic mesh found personal jurisdiction based on Hammons, even though its record did not include working closely with the Pennsylvania physician in developing the product. Carlino v. Ethicon, 2019 WL 1567412 (Pa. Super., April 11, 2019).

BREAKING NEWS. Potentially even more important than the Superior Court’s finding personal jurisdiction three times in the pelvic mesh litigation is that on April 10, 2019 the Pennsylvania Supreme Court granted a petition for allowance of appeal in Hammons, limited to the issue “[w]hether the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and 42 Pa.C.S. § 5322(c) [limiting the scope of jurisdiction] precludes Pennsylvania from asserting personal jurisdiction over two New Jersey companies in a case brought by an Indiana resident asserting claims under the Indiana Product Liability Act.” Until and unless Hammons is reversed, which would also effectively reverse In re: Pelvic Mesh Litigation and Carlino, the law remains that Pennsylvania courts have personal jurisdiction in the pelvic mesh cases. Even if Hammons is reversed, the principle still stands that in-state activities related to the incident or product in question can provide personal jurisdiction. As a practical matter, though, reversal of Hammons and the others could make factual application of this principle more difficult.

Waiver by Participation A party may waive an objection to personal jurisdiction through consent by taking action going to the merits of the case. Cathcart v. Keene Indus. Insulation, 324 Pa. Super. 123, 135, 471 A.2d 493, 499 (1984). A good summary of caselaw on waiver through affirmative participation is in Lukaszonas v. Taylor, 2018 WL 4001619 (Pa. Super. 2018) (non-precedential). For examples from Lukaszonas, filing a demurrer before raising a jurisdictional objection is a waiver, but attending a scheduling conference is not.

Under very unusual facts, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has just found an implicit waiver of an objection to personal jurisdiction by participating in the case on merits, even though defendants stated that they did not intend to waive that defense. In re Asbestos Products Liability Litigation (No. VI), 2019 WL 1526696 (3rd Cir., April 9, 2019). This decision was made over a dissent and was contrary to a decision in the Sixth Circuit.

In conclusion Attorneys should watch carefully for new decisions in any of these areas. Also, even if a plaintiff manages to secure personal jurisdiction over an out-of-state corporation, the plaintiff should be prepared to address an out-of-state defendant’s next favorite way to avoid Philadelphia justice: forum non conveniens, which transfers a case over which Philadelphia has personal jurisdiction to another allegedly more convenient state.

 

Jonathan W. Miller

Jonathan W. Miller

Partner
Philadelphia Office
Jonathan has specialized in complex cases, legal issues and appeals for over 40 years. Recent cases include medical malpractice and civil rights violations.
April 11, 2019 Jonathan W. Miller

Tell Us About Your Case

If you can read this, please avoid filling the following input field or your submission may be marked as spam.
Thank you for contacting us! We will be in touch with you shortly.
Uh oh. There was a problem processing your request. Please try again!
Previous Entry

Excellent Opinion on Spoliation of Video Surveillance in Slip-and-Fall

Next Entry

Partners Al Anthony & Karl Friedrichs included on this year's New Jersey Super Lawyers List

Recent Entries

  • Locks Law Firm Announces New Partner: Victoria A. Schall, Esq.
  • Camp Lejeune and the PACT Act
  • Locks Law Firm Partner Al Anthony Helps Raise Over $1.3 Million for Pillar Care Continuum
  • Jennifer Emmons Named Managing Partner
  • Stephen M. Tatonetti Joins the Locks Law Firm Team

Archive

  • January2023
  • August2022
  • February2022
  • January2022
  • September2021
  • August2021
  • July2021
  • March2021
  • February2021
  • January2021
  • November2020
  • September2020
  • July2020
  • June2020
  • May2020
  • April2020
  • March2020
  • February2020
  • January2020
  • December2019
  • November2019
  • October2019
  • September2019
  • August2019
  • July2019
  • June2019
  • May2019
  • April2019
  • March2019
  • February2019
  • January2019
  • December2018
  • November2018
  • October2018
  • September2018
  • August2018
  • July2018
  • June2018
  • May2018
  • April2018
  • March2018
  • February2018
  • January2018
  • December2017
  • November2017
  • October2017
  • September2017
  • August2017
  • July2017
  • June2017
  • May2017
  • April2017
  • March2017
  • February2017
  • January2017
  • December2016
  • November2016
  • October2016
  • September2016
  • August2016
  • July2016
  • June2016
  • May2016
  • April2016
  • March2016
  • February2016
  • January2016
  • December2015
  • November2015
  • October2015
  • September2015
  • August2015
  • May2015
  • April2015
  • March2015
  • February2015
  • January2015
  • December2014
  • November2014
  • October2014
  • August2014
  • June2014
  • April2014
  • February2014
  • August2013
  • July2013
  • June2013
  • February2013
  • December2012
  • November2012
  • October2012
  • September2012
  • August2012
  • July2012
  • June2012
  • September2011
  • January2011
  • November2010
  • September2010
  • August2010
  • July2010
  • June2010
  • March2010
  • February2010
  • January2010
  • December2009
  • November2009
  • September2009
  • August2009
  • July2009
  • April2009
  • March2009
  • February2009
  • January2009
  • July2008
  • June2008
  • May2008
1-866-LOCKSLAW
[email protected]
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn YouTube
2021 Best Lawyers
Martindale-Hubble Award Ten Leaders

Copyright ©2023 Locks Law Firm. Made by Mindlark.

Locks Law Firm only provides legal advice after having entered into an attorney client relationship, which our website specifically does not create. Conversations that originate from website messaging, chat or other two way web based engagement  do not create an attorney client relationship. It is imperative that any action taken be done on the advice of counsel. Because every case is different, the description of awards and cases previously handled do not guarantee a similar outcome in current or future cases. The firm practices law in Pennsylvania, New Jersey & New York as Locks Law Firm. Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers in America and other organizations that rate attorneys are not designations that have been approved by the State Supreme Courts or the American Bar Association.