Opinion ID: 1540447
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Questions Raised by International Shoe

Text: It would appear that the due process holdings of Pennsylvania Fire Ins. Co. (express consent by registration) and International Shoe (implied consent by minimum contact) complement one another and are neither inconsistent nor mutually exclusive. However, many legal scholars are of the view that the due process basis for the Pennsylvania Fire Ins. Co. decision (statutory consent in the absence of any other contact) would no longer be viable under the due process standards of International Shoe and its progeny (requiring minimum contacts). See e.g., Walker, Foreign Corporation Laws: A Current Account, 47 N.C.L.Rev. 733, 734-38 (1969); Brilmayer, Haverkamp, Logan, Lynch, Neuwirth & O'Brien, A General Look at General Jurisdiction, 66 Tex.L.Rev. 721, 758-59 (1988). The United States Supreme Court has not directly examined its holding in Pennsylvania Fire Ins. Co., since its decision in International Shoe. The state and federal courts that have examined the due process basis for the holding in Pennsylvania Fire Ins. Co. in light of International Shoe are divided as to whether statutory registration can operate as an express consent to personal jurisdiction in the absence of minimum contacts. [8] Thus, according to one scholar the law regarding out-of-state claims against a foreign corporation is in disarray. Hill, Choice of Law and Jurisdiction in the Supreme Court, 81 Colum.L.Rev. 960, 982 (1981). The debate about the continued viability of the holding in Pennsylvania Fire Ins. Co. after International Shoe is now before this Court. Sternberg argues that GenCorp., by qualifying to do business in Delaware as a foreign corporation, and by appointing an agent for service of process, has expressly consented to the general jurisdiction of the Delaware courts. GenCorp argues that, independent of its compliance with the Delaware qualification statute, the extent of its consent, if any, to the jurisdiction of Delaware's courts, must be examined in light of the International Shoe due process minimum contact requirements. The Court of Chancery based its dismissal of Sternberg's complaint upon GenCorp's interpretation of International Shoe. Sternberg v. O'Neil, 532 A.2d at 997. The Court of Chancery noted that personal jurisdiction is an individual right which, like other individual rights, may be waived. Id. at 996 (citing Insurance Corp. of Ireland v. Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinee, 456 U.S. 694, 704-05, 102 S.Ct. 2099, 2105, 72 L.Ed.2d 492 (1982)). However, the Court of Chancery rejected Sternberg's contention that GenCorp's qualification as a foreign corporation constituted an express consent to the general jurisdiction of the Delaware courts. The Court of Chancery held that all assertions of state court jurisdiction  including statutory consent  must be evaluated according to the standards enunciated in International Shoe. Sternberg v. O'Neil, 532 A.2d at 995-96. We disagree.