Expanding General Personal Jurisdiction Over Transnational Corporations for Federal Causes of Action

Abstract

This article advocates for expanding general personal jurisdiction over transnational corporations so that where Congress has provided for a cause of action for extraterritorial violations of law, such as in the area of human rights and terrorism, victims have an opportunity to obtain a remedy. The article discusses the history of general personal jurisdiction over corporations, the recent decisions of Goodyear Dunlop Tires Operations, S.A. v. Brown, and Daimler AG v. Bauman and their impact on victims’ ability to obtain a remedy for extraterritorial business-related human rights violations, and recommends that Congress enact a statute requiring that transnational corporations doing business in the United States consent to the general personal jurisdiction of U.S. courts in those instances where Congress has provided a cause of action for claims that arise extraterritorially.