Illinois’ new jurisdictional rules could have many companies singing “Sweet Home Chicago” (. . . or rather the Cook, Madison, and St. Clair County Courthouses). This week, Illinois amended its rules of civil procedure to allow its state courts to exercise jurisdiction over non-Illinois companies in many toxic tort cases so long as the company is registered to do business in the state.
Under the new rules, a company’s registration in the state allows the court to treat it as functionally “at-home” in Illinois, and therefore subject to general jurisdiction in the state, in many cases involving materials subject to the Illinois Uniform Hazardous Substances Act.
This is true regardless of whether the company does any business in Illinois, or if the business it does conduct there relates to the materials at issue in the plaintiff’s lawsuit. So long as the plaintiff sues another defendant over which the court has “traditional” jurisdiction – for example, by actually manufacturing and selling products in Illinois – the plaintiff can also join a whole swath of non-Illinois defendants in the lawsuit, too.
This new regime greatly expands Illinois’ jurisdictional reach in toxic tort cases, and pushes the outer limits the U.S. Supreme Court has articulated for so-called “consent-based” jurisdiction. Bill 328 is sure to face legal challenge, perhaps all the way to the Supreme Court. In the meantime, critics portend a floodgate of new filings in Illinois’ already plaintiff-friendly courts. The friendly confines, indeed.
Please reach out to your Michael Best attorney with any questions.
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