On June 19, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its 8-1 decision in Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. v. Superior Court of California (No. 16-466, June 19, 2017) (BMS). The court clarified whether a state court (here California) can, consistent with due process, assert “specific” personal jurisdiction over a foreign defendant when nonresident plaintiffs sue for claims having “no affiliation between the forum and the underlying controversy,” such as a case-linked “activity or an occurrence that takes place in the forum state.” When there is no such connection, held the court, “specific jurisdiction is lacking regardless of the extent of a defendant’s unconnected activities in the State.” BMS, Slip Op., at 7.
This is pretty powerful lesson-giving from the nation’s high court, especially as it comes so soon after the court’s end of May decision on “general” jurisdiction in BNSF R. Co. v. Tyrrell, 2017 U.S. LEXIS 3395. Last month’s column (NYLJ, June 12, 2017) reported on BNSF. With BMS on June 19 and BNSF on May 30, the court elaborated again important parameters regarding the two types of personal jurisdiction: “general” (sometimes called “all-purpose”) jurisdiction and “specific” (sometimes called “case-linked”) jurisdiction. Thus, when the defendant is a corporation, it is subject to general (“all-purpose”) jurisdiction in the state where the company is “at home.” Normally, that will be the corporation’s place of incorporation or its principal place of business. General jurisdiction allows the court to hear any claim against that defendant, even if the underlying acts or omissions occurred in a different state.
