Walter Herrley and Judith Sund Herrley v. Volkswagen of America, Inc., and Volkswagenwerk, A.G.

This case presents a question recurrent in the courts applying Mississippi law: Whether a non-resident plaintiff may use Mississippi’s long-arm statute 1 and foreign corporations suit statute 2 to hale corporations, which are not registered but merely doing business in Mississippi, into its courts in an action otherwise unrelated to the state. In 1984 we answered that question “no” in Smith v. DeWalt Products Corp., 743 F.2d 277, 279 (5th Cir.1984). Because there has been no intervening change in Mississippi law since Smith was decided, our answer in this case is controlled by Smith.…