This decision affirms an order quashing service of summons on defendant FCCC for lack of personal jurisdiction. FCCC is not subject to general jurisdiction in California as it is incorporated in Delaware and principally located in South Carolina. It built the chassis for a bus that Champion Bus manufactured in Michigan. The bus was involved in an accident in California. … Read More
(Under FRCivP 4(k)(2), a federal court may exercise jurisdiction over a foreign defendant on a federal claim if the defendant is not subject to personal jurisdiction in any state's courts and exercising jurisdiction over the defendant comports with due process considering his contacts with the US as a whole. Here, the district court could properly exercise jurisdiction over the foreign… Read More
Under Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(k)(2), a plaintiff may establish personal jurisdiction over a foreign defendant by (a) alleging a federal law claim against the defendant, (b) showing that the defendant is not subject to personal jurisdiction in any state, and (c) showing that exercise of jurisdiction over the defendant is consistent with due process, considering the defendant's contacts with… Read More
In a case with facts closely similar to Ford Motor Co. v. Montana Eighth Judicial Dist. Court (2021) 141 S.Ct. 1017, the court follows that decision in holding that Daimler was subject to personal jurisdiction in California even though Daimler had not sold the truck involved in the accident in this state nor did the accident occur here. Daimler purposefully… Read More
Arizona had personal jurisdiction over Pennsylvania Byzantime Catholic church officials whom plaintiff claimed had defamed it and interfered with plaintiff's contract with an Arizona Byzantine Catholic church. Under Calder v. Jones, 465 U.S. 783, 788-89 (1984), a defendant is subject to specific personal jurisdiction if he (1) commits an intentional act, (2) expressly aimed at the forum state, that (3)… Read More
The trial court erred in vacating entry of judgment in California on a sister state judgment rendered in Missouri where plaintiffs lived. Missouri had personal jurisdiction over the California defendants since they had sent allegedly fraudulent communications to plaintiffs in Missouri, inducing the Missouri plaintiffs to enter into a contract for defendants' adoption services and pay defendants from Missouri. An… Read More
Relying heavily on Anglo Irish Bank Corp. v. Superior Court (2008) 165 Cal.App.4th 969, this decision holds that a South Korean parent corporation is subject to specific personal jurisdiction in California based on activities its California subsidiary took in California in what the complaint charged was an antitrust conspiracy to fix spot market prices of fuel in California. For personal… Read More
Arizona lacked personal jurisdiction over Continental (which built the airplane engine) and Textron (which acquired some assets of the plane's manufacturer) in a products liability suit by the plane's owner who had survived a crash alleged caused to defects in the engine. Neither defendant was subject to general jurisdiction in Arizona. Continental had not purposefully availed itself of Arizona's privileges. … Read More
Plaintiff and defendant were a married couple living in Georgia. While on a visit to California, husband assaulted and battered wife. The requirements for California to exercise specific jurisdiction over a nonresident defendant are satisfied when the defendant travels to California and commits a tort while in California--if the suit arises from that tort. California has an interest in deterring… Read More
Defendant was subject to specific personal jurisdiction in California though he was not an officer of dmarcian USA and demarcian EU, for which he worked, was a separate entity. By publicly presenting himself as a leader of dmarcian, a company headquartered in California, having dmarcian EU’s web address automatically route to dmarcian’s Web site, administered in California, and receiving prospective… Read More
Under Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(k)(2), when the plaintiff sues on a federal cause of action and the defendant is not subject to personal jurisdiction in any state's courts of general jurisdiction, the federal courts may exercise personal jurisdiction over the defendant if it has minimum contacts with the United States as a whole under the same generally applicable tests… Read More
California could not exercise specific personal jurisdiction over a Virginia law firm and its lawyers. The lawyers had done nothing to avail themselves of California's benefits. They had a website with minimum interactivity not directed to California residents in particular but rather to veterans throughout the country. The lawyers had Virginia bar licenses, not California ones. Though plaintiff (their client)… Read More
On a discretionary appeal from a class certification order under Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(f), the Court of Appeal has jurisdiction to review any issue bound up with the decision to certify the class. Thus, in this case, on a 23(f) appeal from an order certifying two nationwide TCPA classes, the Court of Appeal had jurisdiction to consider whether the… Read More
California has specific personal jurisdiction over Avon in a suit brought by a Calfiornia resident who used Avon's talc products and claims they were defective, containing asbestos which gave her mesothelioma. Plaintiff adequately alleged facts showing that Avon had purposefully availed itself of California's benefits and that those contacts were related to her suit by showing that she had purchased… Read More
Though the defendant did not appear and defaulted, it did not thereby waive any objection to personal jurisdiction. A trial court may and should determine its own subject matter and personal jurisdiction before entering a default judgment to assure that it is not a void decree. Here, the trial court properly gave plaintiff notice of its doubt that it had… Read More
Defendant sold goods through its Internet website. It had no physical presence in California but 8 to 10 per cent of its sales were to California residents. That was sufficient availment of the benefits and protections of California law to satisfy due process, even though the defendant did not target California residents any more than residents of other states. Making… Read More
Following Helicopteros Nacionales de Colombia v. Hall (1984) 466 U.S. 408, this decision holds that the district court erred in judging specific personal jurisdiction on the particular transaction that gave rise to the lawsuit rather than on the whole business relationship between the parties, of which the particular transaction was a part. Defendant was a Honduran company that imported into… Read More
The district court correctly dismissed this copyright infringement suit against the Polish owner of a Polish porn website for lack of personal jurisdiction. To establish specific personal jurisdiction under the Calder "effects" test, the plaintiff must show (1) the defendant purposefully availed himself of the privileges of conducting activities in the forum or purposefully directed his activities to the forum,… Read More
Brembo, an Italian corporation, was not subject to specific jurisdiction in California in a suit by its distributor TAW, which though originally a California entity, had moved its principal place of business to North Carolina before entering into the distributorship agreement that was the subject of this suit. The agreement authorized TAW to distribute Brembo products throughout the United States,… Read More
California has jurisdiction over the mother, her brother, and her daughters, all of whom now live in other states, in a suit filed by the son challenging actions taken by the others in connection with the family trust. Mother and trust had deep California roots. She lived in Santa Monica until 2016 and formed the trust there. In 2016, the… Read More
