Delaware Business Litigation Report

Plaintiff Loses Motion To Dismiss For Lack Of Jurisdiction

American Scheduling, Inc. v. Radiant Systems, Inc., C.A. No. 725-N, 2005 WL 736889 (Del. Ch. Feb. 09, 2005). This is a motion to quash jurisdictional discovery. The court granted the motion, quashing the discovery. Defendant, a Georgia corporation with no Delaware connections, brought a motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction. The court held that although there is no requirement to plead proper jurisdiction in the Complaint, a motion to dismiss for the lack of jurisdiction casts the burden on the plaintiff to demonstrate a "plausible basis for [non-frivolous] jurisdiction." The court examined Delaware's law of personal jurisdiction and observed that under Delaware law, a corporation must either be incorporated in Delaware, act through its affiliate-agent that is amenable to personal jurisdiction in Delaware, or present some reason for the "separate existence of the two entities to be ignored (such as would permit piercing the corporate veil)." Because plaintiff here had not demonstrated either avenue, the court granted the motion to dismiss. Authored by: Raj Srivatsan 302-888 6831 rsrivatsan@morrisjames.com Share