McHenry v. La Societe Francaise d'Epargnes was a United States Supreme Court case that dealt with the issue of whether a foreign corporation could be sued in a United States court. The case involved a French corporation, La Societe Francaise d'Epargnes, which had been sued in a United States court by an American citizen, McHenry. The French corporation argued that it could not be sued in a United States court because it was a foreign corporation. The Supreme Court held that a foreign corporation could be sued in a United States court. The Court reasoned that the corporation had voluntarily chosen to do business in the United States, and thus had subjected itself to the jurisdiction of the United States courts. The Court also noted that the corporation had been served with process in the United States, and thus had been given the opportunity to defend itself in the United States court. The Court's decision in McHenry v. La Societe Francaise d'Epargnes established that foreign corporations can be sued in United States courts. This decision has been cited in numerous subsequent cases, and has been used to support the idea that foreign corporations can be held accountable for their actions in the United States.

In McHenry v. La Societe Francaise d'Epargnes, the Supreme Court was tasked with determining whether a foreign corporation could be sued in an American court for debts incurred by its branch office in the United States. The majority opinion held that such a suit would be permissible under certain circumstances, but Justice Field dissented from this ruling. He argued that since the foreign corporation had no legal presence or assets within America's jurisdiction, it should not be subject to any of its laws and thus could not legally be sued in an American court. Furthermore, he noted that allowing suits against foreign corporations without their consent would create diplomatic issues between countries as well as potential conflicts of law regarding which country's laws should apply to such cases. Ultimately, Justice Field concluded that while there may have been some injustice done to Mr McHenry due to his inability to collect on his debt owed by La Societe Francaise d'Epargnes’ US branch office; however this did not justify creating a precedent where foreign corporations can potentially face lawsuits without their knowledge or consent when they are outside of America’s jurisdiction