What comes next?
On March 25, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court broadened the reach of specific personal jurisdiction by finding that Ford Motor Co. can be sued in Montana and Minnesota for vehicles that were “designed, manufactured, and first sold” out of state. The Supreme Court held that “[w]hen a company … serves a market for a product in a State and that product causes injury in the State to one of its residents, the State’s courts may entertain the resulting suit.” The decision could mark the beginning of new cases where the underlying claims only “relate to” a defendant’s activities in the state, or the decision could further confuse lower courts that try to determine what activity relates to the underlying claims.