On June 25, 2020, the Pennsylvania Superior Court held that the plaintiffs had waived their argument—by failing to raise it in the trial court—that the defendant consented to personal jurisdiction in Pennsylvania courts simply by registering to do business in the State. In its amicus brief, WLF had argued that due process protects a nonresident company from being haled into a state court merely because the company registered to do business in the State; business registration does not constitute consent to jurisdiction. WLF filed its brief with substantial pro bono assistance from James M. Beck, an attorney with Reed Smith LLP in Philadelphia. The court, along with several other three-judge Superior Court panels, initially ruled that a company can be sued in Pennsylvania on any and all claims (“general” jurisdiction) because it “consented” to suit by registering to do business—a step required of any company that sells products in the State. The court later agreed to rehear this case en banc.
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