Last year, we
posted
about Pennsylvania going off the personal jurisdictional
"deep end" in Hammons v. Ethicon, Inc.,
190 A.3d 1248 (Pa. Super. 2018), and Webb-Benjamin, LLC v.
International Rug Group, LLC, 192 A.3d 1133 (Pa. Super.
2018). Well, unfortunately they're still at it, and we're
afraid that the result could well be a lot like the Missouri talc
cases, or a bunch of California mass torts – a lot of futile
trial activity eventually coming to naught because the trial courts
never had jurisdiction to start with.
But maybe not. Here's a ray of hope. Last Wednesday, the
Pennsylvania Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal in the
Hammons case. So whether or not it ultimately
takes the United States Supreme Court to straighten Pennsylvania
out, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court will have the first opportunity
to set things right – which is as it should be.
