Clifford Chance
Supreme Court Continues Its Restrictive Approach to Personal Jurisdiction, Barring 'Mass Actions' by Plaintiffs from Multiple States against an Out-of-State Corporate Defendant
20 June 2017
On June 19, 2017, continuing a trend, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an opinion that once again clarified—and narrowed—the sorts of contacts that can subject a defendant to personal jurisdiction in a specific state, a constitutional requirement in all U.S. litigation. In Bristol-Myers Squibb Company v. Superior Court of California (“Bristol-Myers”), the Court held that plaintiffs who did not reside in California and were not injured there could not establish specific personal jurisdiction over Bristol-Myers Squibb (“BMS”), a pharmaceutical company incorporated in Delaware and headquartered in New York, in connection with products liability claims concerning BMS’ nationwide sale of pharmaceutical products.
