Case Name: GLOBAL OCEANIC ENTERPRISES, INC. and Richard Coppola v. Wayne HYNUM
Court: Mississippi Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Mississippi
Decision Date: 2003-08-14
Citations: 857 So. 2d 659
Docket Number: No. 2002-CA-00471-SCT
Parties: GLOBAL OCEANIC ENTERPRISES, INC. and Richard Coppola v. Wayne HYNUM.
Judges: PITTMAN, C.J., SMITH, P.J., WALLER, CARLSON AND GRAVES, JJ., CONCUR. McRAE, P.J., DISSENTS WITH SEPARATE WRITTEN OPINION JOINED BY EASLEY, J. DIAZ, J., NOT PARTICIPATING.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 857
Pages: 659–668

Head Matter:
GLOBAL OCEANIC ENTERPRISES, INC. and Richard Coppola v. Wayne HYNUM.
No. 2002-CA-00471-SCT.
Supreme Court of Mississippi.
Aug. 14, 2003.
Rehearing Denied Nov. 6, 2003.
Stephen O. Montagnet, III, Jackson, attorney for appellants.
Wayne Hynum, Hattiesburg, Allen Lamar Burrell, Port Gibson, attorneys for appellee.

Opinion:
COBB, Justice,
for the Court.
¶ 1. On June 3, 1999, Global Oceanic Enterprises, Inc. and Richard Coppola (collectively Global) enrolled a Pennsylvania judgment against attorney Wayne Hynum (Hynum) with the Forrest County Circuit Clerk. The Pennsylvania judgment was the result of a fee dispute between Hynum and Global. Hynum objected to the enrollment, claiming Pennsylvania did not have jurisdiction over him. Global filed a response and moved for summary judgment; Hynum also filed a motion for summary judgment. Both parties' motions for summary judgment were heard before Special Judge Lamar Pickard, and on September 5, 2001, he entered an order finding in favor of Hynum. Subsequently, Global's motion to reconsider was denied, and Global timely appealed.
FACTS
¶2. Global is a Pennsylvania corporation. Hynum is an attorney in Hatties-burg, Mississippi. In 1992, Richard Coppola, the president and sole owner of Global, hired Hynum to represent Global in a lawsuit that was pending in the Forrest County Chancery Court. After the litigation ended in 1994, a fee dispute arose between Global and Hynum. On July 15, 1996, Global filed a complaint for breach of contract against Hynum in the Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Court of Common Pleas, alleging that Hynum improperly retained a substantial portion of settlement proceeds that should have been returned to Global.
¶ 3. Hynum obtained Pennsylvania counsel and entered a special appearance by filing a preliminary objection to Global's complaint, in the nature of objection to the jurisdiction of the Pennsylvania court on August 5, 1996. Global filed its response to Hynum's objection on August 14, 1996. Hynum allowed his deposition to be taken on February 5, 1997, and produced documents in response to discovery requests concerning the issue of jurisdiction. On April 22, 1997, Hynum's counsel filed a response to Global's memorandum in opposition, in which he asserted that Hynum did not have sufficient minimum contacts with Pennsylvania to make him subject to the jurisdiction of Pennsylvania courts. Following the formal briefing of the jurisdictional arguments, the Pennsylvania judge heard oral argument in her chambers on July 1, 1997. Hynum's attorney was present appearing on Hynum's behalf, and during the course of the proceedings, the judge invited the parties to supplement their previous memoranda. That same day, Global's counsel submitted a letter to the judge supplementing its argument, stating that Hynum had sufficient minimal contacts to meet jurisdictional requirements and also stating that because Hynum made no showing of compelling circumstances which would render the exercise of jurisdiction unreasonable, Global had met its burden of proof. Hynum responded by submitting a letter to the judge on September 3, 1997, contesting: the accuracy of Global's letter regarding the locus of execution of a fee agreement; the locus of payments made; the allegation that Hynum traveled to Pennsylvania to meet with Global; and the allegation that he traveled to Pennsylvania in order to enter into a contract with Pennsylvania citizens.
¶ 4. After considering the parties' jurisdictional arguments, the Pennsylvania judge entered an order on October 14, 1997, denying and dismissing Hynum's objection to jurisdiction. The order also stated Hynum had twenty days to answer Global's complaint. Hynum declined to further defend the Pennsylvania action and also failed to perfect any appeal of the court's ruling within the Pennsylvania court system. Consequently, a default judgment was entered in favor of Global on July 16,1998.
¶ 5. After the Pennsylvania judgment was enrolled in Forrest County, Hynum filed a motion objecting to the judgment and asking that it be stricken from the judgment roll, making the same arguments as he previously made in objection to the jurisdiction of Pennsylvania. Both Global and Hynum filed motions for summary judgment. Following the trial court's granting of Hynum's motion and denial of Global's motion to reconsider, Global now appeals citing the following two issues for this Court's consideration:
ISSUES
I. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN PERMITTING RE-LITIGATION OF JURISDICTIONAL FACTS FULLY LITIGATED IN A COURT OF FOREIGN JURISDICTION.
II. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN REFUSING TO AFFORD "FULL FAITH AND CREDIT" TO A FOREIGN JUDGMENT.
¶ 6. Because we conclude that the Forrest County Circuit Court erred in its grant of summary judgment in favor of Hynum, we reverse and remand to that court for re-enrollment of the Pennsylvania judgment.
STANDARD OF REVIEW
¶ 7. This Court employs a de novo standard of review on appeal from a summary judgment. Jenkins v. Ohio Cas. Ins. Co., 794 So.2d 228, 282 (Miss.2001); Russell v. Orr, 700 So.2d 619, 622 (Miss.1997).
¶ 8. The circuit court's decision to decline application of the doctrine of res judicata is a legal rather than a factual determination. For questions of law, this Court's standard of review is de novo. Saliba v. Saliba, 753 So.2d 1095, 1098 (Miss.2000).
DISCUSSION
¶ 9. The question of whether the Pennsylvania court had jurisdiction over Hy-num is crucial to the circuit court's ability to enforce the judgment. Hynum challenged the Pennsylvania court's jurisdiction by entering a special appearance, through Pennsylvania counsel, for the limited purpose of challenging personal jurisdiction. However, after hearing arguments on the jurisdictional issue, the Pennsylvania judge denied and dismissed Hynum's challenge and ordered him to answer Global's complaint within twenty days, which he did not do.
¶ 10. Global first argues that the Pennsylvania court's decision on jurisdiction is binding and bars Hynum's collateral attack of the judgment in Forrest County. Global contends that the doctrine of res judica-ta should be applied since the issue of whether Pennsylvania had in personam jurisdiction over Hynum has already been decided. Hynum counters that Global misrepresented facts to the Pennsylvania judge in order to obtain jurisdiction.
¶ 11. Res judicata reflects the refusal of the law to tolerate a multiplicity of litigation. Little v. V & G Welding Supply, Inc., 704 So.2d 1336, 1337 (Miss.1997). Res judicata bars all issues that might have been (or could have been) raised and decided in the initial suit, plus all issues that were actually decided in the first cause of action. Id. "The principles of res judicata apply to questions of jurisdiction as well as to other issues whether the questions relate to jurisdiction of the subject matter or jurisdiction of the parties." Dep't of Human Servs. v. Shelnut, 772 So.2d 1041, 1045 (Miss.2000) (citing Insurance Corp. of Ireland, Ltd. v. Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinee, 456 U.S. 694, 102 S.Ct. 2099,72 L.Ed.2d 492 (1982)). In determining "whether the judgment amounts to res judicata on the question of the jurisdiction of the court which rendered it over the person of the respondent, [i]t is of no moment that the appearance was a special one expressly saving any submission to such jurisdiction. That fact would be important upon appeal from the judgment. ." Baldwin v. Iowa State Traveling Men's Ass'n, 283 U.S. 522, 524-25, 51 S.Ct. 517, 75 L.Ed. 1244 (1931).
¶ 12. To apply res judicata to jurisdictional issues, a prior challenge to the jurisdictional claim is required. A defendant has three options available:
First he may ignore the complaint and summons, and, then if a default judgment is issued against him, he may challenge that judgment on jurisdictional grounds in a collateral proceeding when the plaintiff seeks to enforce the judgment. Second, he may voluntarily waive any lack of personal jurisdiction and submit to the distant court's jurisdiction. And third, he may submit to the jurisdiction of the court for the limited purpose of challenging jurisdiction.
Shelnut, 772 So.2d at 1045-46 (citations omitted). If, however, a defendant takes the third route, "the defendant agrees to abide by that court's determination on the issue of jurisdiction: That decision will be res judicata on that issue in any further proceedings." Id. at 1046.
¶ 13. Global relies primarily on Shelnut, which concerned the enforcement of a child support order entered in a Canadian divorce action. The wife filed a divorce action in Canada, and the husband filed an affidavit and pleading in the Canadian court, contesting personal jurisdiction. The Canadian court rejected the husband's argument and ruled in favor of the wife, granting the divorce and awarding custody and child support to her. In an attempt to collect child support, the Mississippi Department of Human Services (DHS) filed suit against the husband in Hinds County. The husband contested enforcement of the Canadian judgment, and the Hinds County Chancery Court found that the Canadian court lacked jurisdiction to enter the order against him.
¶ 14. On appeal, this Court reversed, holding that res judicata barred relitigation of the jurisdictional issue, and stating that, "by making a special appearance to raise the issue of personal jurisdiction, the husband preserved the jurisdictional issue for purposes of direct appeal. He did not preserve it for collateral attack." Id. at 1047 (emphasis added) (citing O'Neill v. O'Neill, 515 So.2d 1208 (Miss.1987)). It was also noted that since no attempt was made to appeal the Canadian ruling that he should not be allowed to collaterally attack it. Shelnut 772 So.2d at 1047.
¶ 15. Hynum counters by arguing that Mississippi law does not apply full faith and credit to foreign judgments obtained by false means or representations; nor does it apply to judgments if the foreign court did not have jurisdiction. Davis v. Davis, 558 So.2d 814, 818 (Miss.1990). Hynum contends that Shelnut is not applicable because there was no allegation of fraud in obtaining jurisdiction over Mr. Shelnut.
¶ 16. Further, Hynum relies on Reeves Royalty Co. v. ANB Pump Truck Service, 513 So.2d 595 (Miss.1987), in which a default judgment was entered against Reeves in favor of ANB in Witchita County, Texas. Id. at 596. ANB sought to have the foreign judgment enforced in Mississippi, and Reeves contested the enforcement and put on uncontradicted evidence that ANB had agreed to take no further action against it and Reeves therefore withdrew its defense of the Texas case. Id. This Court noted that where the court rendering the judgment was without jurisdiction or where judgment was obtained by extrinsic fraud, then a state was not required to recognize the foreign judgment. Id. at 598 (emphasis added). Extrinsic fraud is "any fraudulent conduct of the successful party which was practiced outside of an actual adversary trial directly and affirmatively on the defeated party whereby he was prevented from presenting fully and fairly his side of the cause." Id. at 598-99. Further, this Court stated that "[i]t is not fraud involving the merits of the case which may be thus attacked, but a fraud that enables a party to procure a judgment he otherwise would not have obtained which is subject to such an attack. This is an important distinction." Id. at 599 (citing Smedes v. Ilsley, 68 Miss. 590, 10 So. 75 (1891)).
¶ 17. Hynum's reliance on Reeves is misplaced, as his circumstances are clearly distinguishable from that of Reeves. The type of fraud or misrepresentation Hynum complains of is not extrinsic. He argues that Global misrepresented his contacts with Pennsylvania to the Pennsylvania court which decided the issue of jurisdiction. Hynum raised the exact same challenge to jurisdiction in the Pennsylvania court as he did in the Forrest County Circuit Court. It is undisputed that the Pennsylvania court had before it Hynum's defense of fraud and false statements made by Global. The issue of jurisdiction was completely litigated in Pennsylvania, and thus the Pennsylvania judgment was valid. Hynum made no attempt to appeal that judgment.
¶ 18. Hynum is prevented from relitigating the jurisdictional issue because his collateral attack is predicated on the same allegations of misrepresentation as asserted before the Pennsylvania court:
The courts of this State are bound to give full faith and credit to a judgment of a sister state. This rule is subject to the principle that the courts of this State are not required to recognize the judgment of another state where the judgment was rendered by a court without jurisdiction or where it has been obtained by extrinsic fraud. This principle is in turn subject to the limitation that if the court of the state which rendered the judgment has expressly litigated the jurisdictional question or the matter of fraud that the determination becomes res judicata on this point and is, itself, protected by the full faith and credit clause of the Constitution of the United States, Article TV, § 1. Therefore, a jurisdictional question cannot be relitigated a second time in another state.
Galbraith & Dickens Aviation Ins. Agency v. Gulf Coast Aircraft Sales, Inc., 396 So.2d 19, 21 (Miss.1981) (quoting Ratner v. Hensley, 303 So.2d 41, 44 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1974)) (emphasis added). The Pennsylvania court fully litigated the issue of jurisdiction. Hynum contested the jurisdiction by entering a special appearance, and he presented his defense before the Pennsylvania court. After the court entered its judgment in favor of Global, Hynum failed to prosecute an appeal through the Pennsylvania judicial system. He chose to do nothing. As stated previously, once a defendant has elected to contest jurisdiction, that defendant has agreed to abide by the foreign court's determination, and res judi-cata will apply. Thus, the trial court erred in striking the Pennsylvania judgment from the Forrest County Judgment Roll and by granting Hynum's motion for summary judgment.
CONCLUSION
¶ 19. The Pennsylvania judgment against Hynum is to be given full faith and credit. We reverse the judgment of the Forrest County Circuit Court, and we remand this case to that court with instruction to re-enroll the Pennsylvania judgment on the Judgment Roll of Forrest County.
¶ 20. REVERSED AND REMANDED.
PITTMAN, C.J., SMITH, P.J., WALLER, CARLSON AND GRAVES, JJ., CONCUR. McRAE, P.J., DISSENTS WITH SEPARATE WRITTEN OPINION JOINED BY EASLEY, J. DIAZ, J., NOT PARTICIPATING.
. The Shelnuts were married in Canada but lived in Mississippi. Ms. Shelnut returned to Canada before filing for divorce. Mr. Shelnut remained in Mississippi. Although Shelnut discusses enforcement of a judgment under Mississippi statutes, the questions of res judi-cata and full faith and credit were decided using Mississippi case law.
. No claim was made that the Texas court lacked jurisdiction over Reeves.