The latest legal fight in the legislature concerns venue. What is venue? Venue is a rule of court dictating where a person, corporation or another entity can be sued. Under current law, a corporation can be sued where the parties live, meaning the person who is suing or the person who is sued; where the bad act occurred giving rise to the lawsuit; or where, in the case of a corporation, the company can be found doing business on a regular and substantial basis. The big boys in Harrisburg who write the hefty checks want to make sure that corporations cannot be sued where they purposely avail themselves of the opportunity of doing business.
An example using a completely fictitious company and county will suffice. Fabio Snacks is headquartered in rural Manhattan County, Pennsylvania. Suppose Fabio Snacks sells tainted food all over the state. A woman in Philadelphia eats the poisoned food and dies. Her estate can file the lawsuit in Philadelphia or Manhattan County. Suppose the estate of the dead woman is located in Harrisburg, Dauphin County. The tainted food was produced in Manhattan County, and the batches were inspected in Philadelphia before the product was sold in Dauphin County. Under current rules established by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, the estate of the decedent may file a lawsuit in Dauphin or Manhattan County but may, if Philadelphia County had enough connection with the problem through its inspection in Philadelphia, be sued in the metropolitan county.
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