New York lawmakers are weighing a bill to make foreign companies submit to the jurisdiction of New York courts as a condition of doing business in the state, a position some lawyers say is at odds with a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The high court decided unanimously last year to put restrictions on lawsuits filed against foreign companies in the U.S. that concern actions that took place abroad. Defense lawyers hailed the decision as a strike against “litigation tourism,” the filing of lawsuits in a jurisdiction with no direct link to the issue or parties involved. New York, meanwhile, is trying to draw more corporate litigants into its courts, with the hope of surpassing Delaware as the leader in business litigation. The Supreme Court’s 9-0 ruling in Daimler AG v. Bauman said that a company can be sued in a state for actions that take place elsewhere only in limited circumstances — if, for instance, the company is based in the state or incorporated there. Under the proposed law, any claim against a foreign company that registers with the New York secretary of state could be filed in New York courts, regardless of where the alleged wrongdoing took place or who was harmed.
