Member Article

The court’s decision in Mallory could have profound implications for larger-sized companies that operate in multiple states throughout the country. And nowhere is this truer than in New York, where the state’s status as a global hotspot for foreign investment has attracted myriad out-of-state companies to register to do business within its borders.

For over half a century, the U.S. Supreme Court has generally held that a corporation can only be considered “at home”—and thus subject to the general jurisdiction of courts—in a state where it is either incorporated or maintains its headquarters. Recently, however, the court appeared to upend that precedent in Mallory v. Norfolk Southern Railway, No. 21-1168, 2023 WL 4187749 (June 27, 2023). In Mallory, the court held that a business may be subject to general jurisdiction in any state where it registers to do business—at least in cases where the state’s registration statute requires the company to consent to the general jurisdiction of that state’s courts.

To continue reading Tom Kurland and Dakotah Burns' article in the New York Law Journal, please click here.