Opinion ID: 3195166
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Delaware’s Registration Statutes

Text: To understand this dispute, the Delaware statutes upon which the Cepecs rely for their contention that Genuine Parts is subject to Delaware‘s general jurisdiction must be understood. Critical to their argument is this Court‘s 1988 Sternberg decision, which first interpreted Delaware‘s statute for service of process on a foreign corporation‘s registered agent as conferring general jurisdiction over the corporation. We therefore begin by discussing the registration statutes that general business contacts‖ required to subject the corporation to general jurisdiction in the state); see also Monestier, supra note 1, at 1352 (―It was thought that if a corporation was doing business in the forum, in the sense of having continuous and systematic contacts with the forum, it would be subject to general jurisdiction there.‖). 25 Helicopteros, 466 U.S. at 414 n.8. 26 Ins. Corp. of Ireland v. Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinee, 456 U.S. 694, 703 (1982). 27 Burger King, 471 U.S. at 472 n.14 (citing Ins. Corp. of Ireland, 456 U.S. at 703). 10 Genuine Parts was required to comply with as the cost of doing any business in Delaware, and the context in which Sternberg interpreted them as a basis for general jurisdiction. To legally do any business in our state, Genuine Parts first had to comply with § 371, which provides in relevant part that: No foreign corporation shall do any business in this State, through or by branch offices, agents or representatives located in this State, until it shall have . . . filed in the office of the Secretary of State . . . [a] statement . . . setting forth [] the name and address of its registered agent in this State . . . .‖28 Genuine Parts also had to agree to have its registered in-state agent accept service of process on its behalf under § 376, which provides in relevant part that: All process issued out of any court of this State, all orders made by any court of this State, all rules and notices of any kind required to be served on any foreign corporation which has qualified to do business in this State may be served on the registered agent of the corporation designated in accordance with § 371 of this title, or, if there be no such agent, then on any officer, director or other agent of the corporation then in this State.29 In addition to §§ 371 and 376, the Sternberg Court‘s analysis of whether compliance with those statutes conferred general jurisdiction over a foreign corporation involved comparing them to the statutes that apply to foreign corporations that have not registered to do business in Delaware, §§ 382 and 383. Section 382 provides in pertinent part that: 28 8 Del. C. § 371(b). 29 Id. § 376(a). 11 Any foreign corporation which shall transact business in this State without having qualified to do business under § 371 of this title shall be deemed to have thereby appointed and constituted the Secretary of State of this State its agent for the acceptance of legal process in any civil action, suit or proceeding against it in any state or federal court in this State arising or growing out of any business transacted by it within this State.30 And under § 383, unqualified foreign corporations are required to pay certain fees and penalties before maintaining any action or special proceeding in Delaware: A foreign corporation which is required to comply with §§ 371 and 372 of this title and which has done business in this State without authority shall not maintain any action or special proceeding in this State unless and until such corporation has been authorized to do business in this State and has paid to the State all fees, penalties and franchise taxes for the years or parts thereof during which it did business in this State without authority.31 Those four statutes served as the basis for the Sternberg Court‘s holding that the defendant foreign corporation consented to Delaware‘s general jurisdiction by registering to do business in Delaware and appointing an in-state agent for service of process.32 We also note a fifth statute that was not addressed in Sternberg, § 381, which provides that once a registered foreign corporation withdraws its registration, its appointment of a designated agent for service of process ―shall be revoked, and the corporation shall be deemed to have consented that service of 30 Id. § 382(a). 31 Id. § 383(a). 32 See Sternberg, 550 A.2d at 1113–16. 12 process in any action, suit or proceeding based upon any cause of action arising in this State, during the time the corporation was authorized to transact business in this State, may thereafter be made by service upon the Secretary of State.‖33 And although Delaware‘s long-arm statute, § 3104, was not a part of the analysis in Sternberg, it informs our construction of the registration statutes today. The long-arm statute provides in pertinent part that: (a) The term ―person‖ in this section includes any natural person, association, partnership or corporation. (b) The following acts constitute legal presence within the State. Any person who commits any of the acts hereinafter enumerated thereby submits to the jurisdiction of the Delaware courts. (c) As to a cause of action brought by any person arising from any of the acts enumerated in this section, a court may exercise personal jurisdiction over any nonresident, or a personal representative, who in person or through an agent: (1) Transacts any business or performs any character of work or service in the State; (2) Contracts to supply services or things in this State; (3) Causes tortious injury in the State by an act or omission in this State; (4) Causes tortious injury in the State or outside of the State by an act or omission outside the State if the person regularly does or solicits business, engages in any other persistent course of conduct in the State or derives substantial revenue from services, or things used or consumed in the State; (5) Has an interest in, uses or possesses real property in the State; or (6) Contracts to insure or act as surety for, or on, any person, property, risk, contract, obligation or agreement located, executed or to be performed within the State at the time the contract is made, unless the parties otherwise provide in writing. 33 8 Del. C. § 381(c). 13