Page:Mallory v. Norfolk Southern.pdf/34

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
Cite as: 600 U. S. ____ (2023)
3

Opinion of Alito, J.

Milling Co., 243 U. S. 93 (1917). There, an Arizona mining company sued a Pennsylvania insurance company in a Missouri court, alleging claims arising from events in Colorado. Id., at 94. The Pennsylvania insurance company had “obtained a license to do business in Missouri,” and so had complied with a Missouri statute requiring the company to execute a power of attorney consenting to service of process on the state insurance superintendent in exchange for licensure. Ibid. The Missouri Supreme Court had previously construed such powers of attorney as consent to jurisdiction in Missouri for all claims, including those arising from transactions outside the State. Gold Issue Mining & Milling Co. v. Pennsylvania Fire Ins. Co. of Philadelphia, 267 Mo. 524, 549–550, 184 S. W. 999, 1003–1005 (1916) (citing State ex rel. Pacific Mut. Life Ins. Co. v. Grimm, 239 Mo. 135, 159–171, 143 S. W. 483, 490–494 (1911)). Because the insurance company had executed the power of attorney to obtain its license, the court held that Missouri had jurisdiction over the company in that suit. 267 Mo., at 610, 184 S. W., at 1024. We affirmed in a brief opinion, holding that the construction of Missouri’s statute and its application to the Pennsylvania insurance company under the circumstances of the case did not violate due process. Pennsylvania Fire, 243 U. S., at 95.

The parallels between Pennsylvania Fire and the case before us are undeniable. In both, a large company incorporated in one State was actively engaged in business in another State. In connection with that business, both companies took steps that, under the express terms or previous authoritative construction of state law, were understood as consent to the State’s jurisdiction in suits on all claims, no matter where the events underlying the suit took place. In both cases, an out-of-state plaintiff sued the out-of-state company, alleging claims unrelated to the company’s forum-state conduct. And in both, the out-of-state company objected, arguing that holding it to the terms of its