Bristol-Myers Squibb Does Not Apply to Class Actions, La. Federal Judge Rules

NEW ORLEANS — A Louisiana federal judge has ruled that the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. v. Superior Court of California does not divest the court of personal jurisdiction over the non-resident defendants in a Chinese drywall case because the precedent set by the high court does not apply to class actions.

In a Nov. 30 order, Judge Eldon E. Fallon of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana explained that BMS involved a mass tort, not a class action, and, in the instant case, the defendants had substantial contacts with each respective …