Court Grants Preliminary Objections Regarding Jurisdiction Over Foreign Corporation

In the case of Terry v. Aesculap Implant Sys., No. 2018-C-1938 (C.P. Leh. Co. Aug. 8, 2022 Caffrey, J.), the court granted a foreign Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss based upon lack of personal jurisdiction on the basis that the court lacked both general and specific jurisdiction over the Defendant.

This matter arose out of claims by a number of Plaintiffs alleging that a knee implant device had been negligently designed and manufactured by a German company.  According to the Opinion, the knee surgeries at issue actually took place in the State of Texas.

As to general jurisdiction, the court found that the jurisdiction requirements were not met under 42 Pa. C.S.A. §5301(a)(1).  Under that statute, a court in Pennsylvania may exercise general jurisdiction over an individual non-resident Defendant when that Defendant is either present in Pennsylvania when process is served or domicile in Pennsylvania at the time when process is served, or where that Defendant consents to the jurisdiction of the court. Neither of these scenarios were implicated under the facts of this case.

With regards to the issue of specific jurisdiction, the court found that the Defendant lacked sufficient minimum contacts within the State of Pennsylvania.

In the end, the court granted the Preliminary Objections and dismissed a Joinder Complaint for lack of personal jurisdiction.

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Source: “Digest of Recent Opinions.” Pennsylvania Law Weekly (Dec. 13, 2022).