The Determination of a Corporation's 'Principal Place of Business'

What is the "principal place of business" of a multinational corporation that has corporate headquarters in New York, but enjoys relatively few sales in that state, and instead conducts business in all 50 states and 39 other nations? What is "Business," anyway?

33 minute read March 26, 2010 at 12:00 PM
By
Jeremy A. Rist And Catherine A. Armentano
The Determination of a Corporation's 'Principal Place of Business'

Every first-year law student learns one of the canonical formulations of federal civil procedure: In order for a federal court to have subject matter jurisdiction over a case or controversy, the matter generally must either arise under the Constitution, laws, or treaties of the United States (“federal question” jurisdiction); or the plaintiffs in an action based on state law must have complete diversity of state citizenship from all of the defendants, and the amount in controversy must exceed $75,000 (“diversity” jurisdiction). 28 U.S.C. ”' 1331; 1332.

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