Jurisdiction Over the Foreign Non-Sovereign Defendant

This Article explores some of the problems of obtaining personal jurisdiction over a business organized abroad, especially those who are not suable under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. The author explores the recent developments in the law of personal jurisdiction that have special relevance for foreign defendants, the fact that a plaintiff will want a foreign defendant to submit to discovery on the jurisdictional issue, and the fact that a defendant may claim that discovery will subject the foreign defendant to civil or criminal liability under the law of another country. The author concludes that in the face of these problems, the question should be whether, if the forum chooses not to exercise its jurisdiction over the defendant, the plaintiff has an alternative forum within which to bring its action.