Tenn. Code Ann. » Tenn. Code / Title 20 / Chapter 2 / Part 2
Tennessee Code Annotated

Tenn. Code Ann. § 20-2-201 (2026)

Foreign corporations subject to actions

✓ current as of May 2026
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section JustiaTenn. Code CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

Acts 1887, ch. 226, §§ 1, 2; Shan., §§ 4543, 4544; mod. Code 1932, §§ 8676, 8677; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 20-220.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 16 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1981–2022 · leading case: Davenport v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 756 S.W.2d 678 (Tenn. 1988).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
Davenport v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 756 S.W.2d 678 (Tenn. 1988). · cites it 45× “In this case the trial court dismissed plaintiffs action for breach of contract for lack of subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to T.C.A. § 20-2-201. The Court of Appeals affirmed, and this Court granted plaintiffs Rule 11 application.”
Mitchell v. White Motor Credit Corp., 627 F. Supp. 1241 (M.D. Tenn. 1986). · cites it 18× “1978) (recognizing T.C.A. § 20-2-201 as a jurisdictional statute and applying it in determining in personam jurisdiction in a diversity action)); see also Williams v.”
P & E Elec., Inc. v. Util. Supply of Am., Inc., 655 F. Supp. 89 (M.D. Tenn. 1986). · cites it 8× “As to the remaining defendants, the Magistrate determined that personal jurisdiction is governed by T.C.A. 20-2-201 and that such jurisdiction is absent.”
Walker v. Nationwide Ins. Co., 813 S.W.2d 135 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1990). · cites it 6× “We are mindful of T.C.A. § 20-2-201 which provides in part: Foreign corporations subject to actions.”
Williams v. Williams, 621 S.W.2d 567 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1981). · cites it 5× “TCA 20-2-201 4 provides in pertinent part as follows: “Any corporation claiming existence under the laws of the United States or any other state or of any country foreign to the United States, or any business trust found doing business in this state, shall be subject to suit…”
Lamb v. MegaFlight, Inc., 26 S.W.3d 627 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2000). · cites it 2× “The Tennessee Long-Arm statute ( Tenn. Code Ann. § 20-2-201 ) provides: (a) Any corporation claiming existence under the laws of the United States or any other state or of any country foreign to the United States, or any business trust found doing business in this state, shall…”
Four Seasons Gardening & Landscaping, Inc. v. Crouch, 688 S.W.2d 439 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1984). · cites it 2× “In that case, this Court held that Tenn.Code Ann. §§ 20-2-201 and 20-2-214 would not permit maintaining an action in Tennessee against a non-resident defendant for claims arising wholly outside of Tennessee and having no connection with this State.”
S. Sys., Inc. v. Torrid Oven Ltd., 58 F. Supp. 2d 843 (W.D. Tenn. 1999). · cites it 8× “Under Tenn.Code Ann. § 20-2-201, entitled “Foreign corporations subject to action”, a foreign corporation “found doing business in this state” is subject to suit in Tennessee to the same extent that Tennessee corporations are liable to suit.”
Milan Express, Inc. v. Missie, Inc., 575 F. Supp. 931 (W.D. Tenn. 1983). · cites it 6× “…Court of Appeals found personal jurisdiction over a foreign corporation to be lacking. The appellate court applied Tenn.Code Ann. § 20-2-201 and limited the effect of § 20-2-214(a)(6), holding that § 20-2-201 imposed a jurisdictional limit on the exercise of personal…”
Ratledge v. Norfolk S. Ry. Co., 958 F. Supp. 2d 827 (E.D. Tenn. 2013). · cites it 23× “Section 20-2-201 provides in part, Any corporation claiming existence under the laws of the United States or any other state or of any country foreign to the United States, or any business trust found doing business in this state, shall be subject to suit here to the same extent…”
Third Nat'l Bank v. Shearson Equip. Mgmt. Corp., 619 F. Supp. 907 (M.D. Tenn. 1984). · cites it 4× “Service of process on the defendant was by means of the “long-arm statute” of Tennessee, T.C.A. § 20-2-201. It has been determined “ * * * that it was the intention of the Tennessee legislature in enacting T.”
Maras v. Chattanooga News Chronicle (E.D. Tenn. 2022). · cites it 5× “and Tenn. Code Ann. § 20-2-201 et seq.”3 and that Media Matters is a “resident of California with its principal place of business located in [California]”4 [Doc.”
Show all 16 citing cases →
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 20-2-201(a) — 2 cases
Mitchell v. White Motor Credit Corp., 627 F. Supp. 1241 (M.D. Tenn. 1986). “1978) (recognizing T.C.A. § 20-2-201 as a jurisdictional statute and applying it in determining in personam jurisdiction in a diversity action)); see also Williams v.”
Davenport v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 756 S.W.2d 678 (Tenn. 1988). “In this case the trial court dismissed plaintiffs action for breach of contract for lack of subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to T.C.A. § 20-2-201. The Court of Appeals affirmed, and this Court granted plaintiffs Rule 11 application.”
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 20-2-201(b) — 3 cases
Davenport v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 756 S.W.2d 678 (Tenn. 1988). “In this case the trial court dismissed plaintiffs action for breach of contract for lack of subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to T.C.A. § 20-2-201. The Court of Appeals affirmed, and this Court granted plaintiffs Rule 11 application.”
P & E Elec., Inc. v. Util. Supply of Am., Inc., 655 F. Supp. 89 (M.D. Tenn. 1986). “As to the remaining defendants, the Magistrate determined that personal jurisdiction is governed by T.C.A. 20-2-201 and that such jurisdiction is absent.”
S. Sys., Inc. v. Torrid Oven Ltd., 58 F. Supp. 2d 843 (W.D. Tenn. 1999). “Under Tenn.Code Ann. § 20-2-201, entitled “Foreign corporations subject to action”, a foreign corporation “found doing business in this state” is subject to suit in Tennessee to the same extent that Tennessee corporations are liable to suit.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.