It’s a Small, Small World

If you’re a business negotiating a contract with someone in New York, keep in mind that if you use the telephone, e-mail, or instant messaging with them — even in reply — you’re “projecting yourself” into New York and thus subjecting yourself to personal jurisdiction in the Empire State.  The New York Law Journal summarizes a recent decision to that effect by the New York Court of Appeals.  In the case, a Montana state agency that replied to an unsolicited e-mail by a New York bank offering to swap bonds found itself subject to jurisdiction in New York, despite a Montana statute providing for exclusive jurisdictions in Big Sky courts.

[Frank Snyder]