Criteria for Exercising Jurisdiction Over Foreign Corporation Based On Presence of Subsidiary Within Jurisdiction—the “Department Doctrine”

The Second Department explained when the presence of a subsidiary within the jurisdiction of the court can be sufficient to exercise jurisdiction over the foreign parent under the so-called “department doctrine” (the subsidiary must be a virtual “department” of the parent):

If control exercised by the domestic corporation over the foreign corporation … . Such control may be manifested in numerous ways and, thus, the method by which such control may be demonstrated will necessarily depend on the attendant facts … . Although the Court of Appeals has noted that it “has never held a foreign corporation present on the basis of control, unless there was in existence at least a parent-subsidiary relationship,” it has nevertheless indicated that this factor is not dispositive … . “The control over [a] subsidiary’s activities . . . must be so complete that the subsidiary is, in fact, merely a department of the parent” … . It is only when the two corporations are “in fact, if not in name . . . one and the same corporation, [that] there is realistically no basis for distinguishing between them” for jurisdictional purposes … .  Goel v Ramachandran, 2013 NY Slip Op 07708, 2nd Dept 11-20-13