Thursday, March 29, 2012

Judge Carmen D. Minora of Lackawanna County Addresses Personal Jurisidiction/Successor Liability Issues

In the case of Turpinat v. G.D.S. Group, 2010-Civil-1793 (C.P. Lacka. Co. March 9, 2012 Minora, J.), Judge Carmen D. Minora of the Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas granted the Preliminary Objections filed by various foreign Defendants to the Plaintiff’s Complaint based upon jurisdictional issues implicating successor liability in Pennsylvania’s long arm statue.

In a detailed Opinion, the court addressed arguments by the Italian corporate Defendants that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania could not exercise personal jurisdiction of those Defendants because some or all of the those Defendants may not have purposefully availed themselves to the jurisdiction of this court. The Italian corporate Defendants argued that the predecessor company did not have the requisite “minimum contact” with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to justify jurisdiction.

After reviewing the power of Pennsylvania courts to exert personal jurisdiction over foreign Defendants as well as the Commonwealth’s long-arm statute, Judge Minora ultimately ruled that Defendant’s Preliminary Objections asserting a lack of personal jurisdiction should be granted.

Anyone desiring a copy of this opinion, which offers a detailed description and analysis of the above law, may click this LINK.

I send thanks to Attorney Thomas J. Campenni and Attorney Howard Levinson of the Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania law offices of Rosenn Jenkins & Greenwald for forwarding this case to my attention.

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