''Perkins v. Benguet Mining Co.'', 342 U.S. 437 (1952), was a

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point ...

case which held that an Ohio state court could exercise general

personal jurisdiction Personal jurisdiction is a court's jurisdiction over the ''parties'', as determined by the facts in evidence, which bind the parties to a lawsuit, as opposed to subject-matter jurisdiction, which is jurisdiction over the ''law'' involved in the ...

over a foreign corporation on the basis of that company's "continuous and systematic" contacts with the state of Ohio.. Benguet Consolidated Mining Co. was a Philippine mining corporation, owned by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the " United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, ...

John W. Hausermann John W. Hausermann or "Judge" Hausermann (December 14, 1867 – July 11, 1965) was an American colonial army officer and gold mine owner in the Philippines. Hausermann was born in Ohio and came to the Philippines in 1898 as a second lieutenan ...

, that temporarily stopped its mining operations and relocated its president to Ohio during the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Japanese occupation of the Philippines. The Court held that the president's use of his office in Ohio to carry on continuous business activities during this period allowed Ohio to properly assert general jurisdiction over his company.

Background

The Supreme Court case consolidated the two original suits into one. One suit had been brought by the petitioner Ms. Perkins for approximately $68,400 in dividends that she alleged were due her as a stockholder. The second suit was for $2,500,000 damages claimed as a result of the company's failure to issue to her certificates for 120,000 shares of its stock. The trial court had sustained a motion to quash the summons in each case because the defendant was a foreign corporation and, as such, the Court did not have personal jurisdiction over it. Neither its corporate headquarters nor its principal place of business were in Ohio, and it had not applied for the required license to transact business in Ohio nor appointed an agent for service of process in state. Additionally, the claims Ms. Perkins sued upon did not arise from anything the defendant did in the state of Ohio. The

Ohio State Supreme Court The Ohio Supreme Court, Officially known as The Supreme Court of the State of Ohio is the highest court in the U.S. state of Ohio, with final authority over interpretations of Ohio law and the Ohio Constitution. The court has seven members, a ...

affirmed the decision and the plaintiff filed another appeal in the U.S. Supreme Court.

Opinion of the Court

The Supreme Court reversed on the basis of the defendant president's "continuous and systematic supervision of the necessarily limited wartime activities of the company" in Ohio. It was thus not a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment due process clause for Ohio to assert

general jurisdiction {{Globalize, article, USA, 2name=the United States, date=December 2010 A court of general jurisdiction is a court with authority to hear cases of all kinds – criminal, civil, family, probate, and so forth. United States All federal courts are ...

over the company on the plaintiff's claim, even though the claim arose from activities conducted outside the forum state and entirely distinct from those activities conducted inside the forum state. The judgment of the Supreme Court of Ohio was vacated and the cause of action remanded for further proceedings consistent with the opinion. This is a notable United States

civil procedure Civil procedure is the body of law that sets out the rules and standards that courts follow when adjudicating civil lawsuits (as opposed to procedures in criminal law matters). These rules govern how a lawsuit or case may be commenced; what ki ...

case in the area of general jurisdiction. It represents one of the rare instances in which a state's exercise of general (as opposed to specific) personal jurisdiction over a non-resident was deemed to comport with the requirements of

due process Due process of law is application by state of all legal rules and principles pertaining to the case so all legal rights that are owed to the person are respected. Due process balances the power of law of the land and protects the individual pe ...

, due to the non-resident's extensive activities within the state.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Perkins V. Benguet Mining Co. United States Supreme Court cases United States Supreme Court cases of the Vinson Court United States personal jurisdiction case law 1952 in United States case law Mining in Ohio Philippines–United States relations

Background

Opinion of the Court

See also

References

External links