Opinion ID: 1540447
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: Scope of GenCorp's Express Statutory Consent

Text: GenCorp qualified as a foreign corporation in Delaware pursuant to 8 Del.C. § 371(b). [15] Service of process upon a foreign corporation which has qualified under Section 371 is made upon its registered agent. [16] 8 Del.C. § 376(a). [17] In its final legal memorandum, although GenCorp did not argue that Sections 371 and 376 were coercive, it did contend that those sections simply provided a method for service of process, giving fair notice to a foreign corporation that an action had been filed against it, but reserving unto that foreign corporation all rights to contest jurisdiction on due process grounds. GenCorp was also under the impression that Section 371 and 376 had never been construed to operate as consent to the general jurisdiction of Delaware courts. However, we have found that similar arguments were rejected by the United States District Court for the District of Delaware more than a decade ago, in D'Angelo v. Petroleos Mexicanas, 378 F.Supp. 1034 (D.Del.1974), when it had occasion to address the scope of Section 376: Section 376 does not in [its] terms limit the amenability of service of a qualified corporation to one which does business in Delaware or with respect to a cause of action arising in Delaware. By the generality of its terms, a foreign corporation qualified in Delaware is subject to service of process in Delaware on any transitory cause of action. Id. at 1039. The District Court held that by qualifying as a foreign corporation, the Mobil Oil Corporation could be served and sued in Delaware on a transitory cause of action. Id. The Delaware statutory scheme with respect to foreign corporations is consistent with the distinction we have found between a state court's power to exercise general jurisdiction over a corporation based upon express consent and its ability to exercise jurisdiction over a foreign corporation as a result of implied consent. The codification of this distinction is apparent when Section 376, which applies to qualified foreign corporations, is compared with Section 382 of Title Eight of the Delaware Code, which is applicable to non-qualified foreign corporations. Section 382 is a long arm statute which provides for service upon a non-qualified foreign corporation which has implicitly consented to Delaware's jurisdiction by transacting business in Delaware. That implied consent is limited, by statute, to those proceedings against the non-qualified foreign corporation which arose or grew out of business transacted in Delaware. D'Angelo v. Petroleos Mexicanas, 378 F.Supp. at 1039. [18] Express consent to jurisdiction by a foreign corporation takes the form of an appointment of a statutory agent to receive service of process in compliance with the statutory requirements of the state in which the corporation desires to do business. Neirbo Co. v. Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp., 308 U.S. 165, 170-71, 174-75, 60 S.Ct. 153, 156, 158, 84 L.Ed. 167 (1939); Pennsylvania Fire Ins. Co. v. Gold Issue Mining & Milling Co., 243 U.S. 93, 95, 37 S.Ct. 344, 344, 61 L.Ed. 610 (1917); Restatement (Second) of Conflict of Laws, § 44 (1971). A corporation that authorizes an agent to receive service of process in compliance with the requirements of a state statute, consents to the exercise of personal jurisdiction in any action that is within the scope of the agent's authority. Id. There are no limitations under 8 Del.C. § 376. We agree with the Delaware District Court's interpretation in D'Angelo of the effect of registration as a foreign corporation in Delaware. We find that when GenCorp qualified as a foreign corporation, pursuant to 8 Del.C. § 371, and appointed a registered agent for the service of process, pursuant to 8 Del.C. § 376, GenCorp consented to the exercise of general jurisdiction by the Courts of Delaware. [19]