New York is poised to enact legislation providing that any corporation, business association, limited liability company, or limited partnership registered to do business in New York has, by registering, consented to the general jurisdiction of New York courts. See Assembly Bill A7769. If signed by the Governor before the end of the year, the legislation would re-establish, for now, broad jurisdiction over entities authorized to do business in New York, effective Jan. 1, 2022.

Brief History

New York Business Corporations Law §1301 requires foreign corporations seeking to do business in New York to register with the State of New York and appoint an in-state agent for service of process. Currently, the statute does not expressly provide that registering to do business in New York constitutes consent to the general jurisdiction of New York courts, though cases holding registered foreign corporations to that burden abound. See, e.g., cases collected in Aybar v. Aybar, 169 A.D.3d 137, 147 (2d Dept. 2019).