Opinion ID: 204161
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Application of Massachusetts Standards to the Superior Court of Québec's Exercise of Jurisdiction

Text: At the outset, we pause to emphasize that the parties do not dispute that the district court had personal jurisdiction over them in this case. Here we review its determination of whether the exercise of personal jurisdiction by the Superior Court of Québec comported with Massachusetts and federal standards. The exercise of personal jurisdiction over a defendant such as Evans is governed by the Commonwealth's long-arm statute insofar as the exercise of jurisdiction also comports with the requirements of the federal Due Process Clause. Caplan v. Donovan, 450 Mass. 463, 879 N.E.2d 117, 120 (2008); see also Ticketmaster-New York, Inc. v. Alioto, 26 F.3d 201, 204 (1st Cir.1994). The Massachusetts long-arm statute permits the exercise of personal jurisdiction when a person has transacted business within the Commonwealth or when the person has contracted to supply services or things within the Commonwealth. This conferral of jurisdiction creates a specifically affiliating jurisdictional nexus; [16] the personal jurisdiction conferred is only with respect to litigation arising out of the transaction within the Commonwealth, not with respect to the defendant's transactions that did not take place in the Commonwealth. Here, [w]e may sidestep the statutory inquiry and proceed directly to the constitutional analysis . . . because the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts has interpreted the state's long-arm statute as an assertion of jurisdiction over the person to the limits allowed by the Constitution of the United States. Daynard v. Ness, Motley, Loadholt, Richardson & Poole, 290 F.3d 42, 52 (1st Cir.2002) (internal quotation marks omitted). We have described in earlier cases these constitutional requirements: First, the claim underlying the litigation must directly arise out of, or relate to, the defendant's forum-state activities. Second, the defendant's in-state contacts must represent a purposeful availment of the privilege of conducting activities in the forum state, thereby invoking the benefits and protections of that state's laws and making the defendant's involuntary presence before the state's courts foreseeable. Third, the exercise of jurisdiction must, in light of the Gestalt factors, be reasonable. Foster-Miller, Inc. v. Babcock & Wilcox Canada, 46 F.3d 138, 144 (1st Cir.1995) (quoting United Elec., Radio and Mach. Workers of Am. v. 163 Pleasant Street Corp., 960 F.2d 1080, 1089 (1st Cir.1992)). With respect to the Gestalt factors, we have observed that, In constitutional terms, the jurisdictional inquiry is not a mechanical exercise. The Court has long insisted that concepts of reasonableness must inform a properly performed minimum contacts analysis. This means that, even where purposefully generated contacts exist, courts must consider a panoply of other factors which bear upon the fairness of subjecting a nonresident to the authority of a foreign tribunal. Ticketmaster-New York, 26 F.3d at 209 (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). The Gestalt factors that a court will consider include: (1) the defendant's burden of appearing, (2) the forum state's interest in adjudicating the dispute, (3) the plaintiff's interest in obtaining convenient and effective relief, (4) the judicial system's interest in obtaining the most effective resolution of the controversy, and (5) the common interests of all sovereigns in promoting substantive social policies. Id. In applying these standards, the district court held: The Quebec Superior Court's exercise of personal jurisdiction over Plaintiff did not contravene traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice. Plaintiff had several contacts with Quebec. All the orders, communications, payments, correspondence and dealings between Parties occurred through Defendant's Montreal office. Moreover, Parties agreed to create a product showroom at Defendant's Montreal office, which was ultimately constructed. The purpose of this showroom was to display Plaintiff's products to potential customers and sales agents from Canada and New England. Evans Cabinet, 584 F.Supp.2d at 416 (internal quotation marks omitted). However, as we have noted in our earlier discussion of the Québec jurisdictional statute, the affidavits supplied by the parties were in conflict. Evans, through the affidavits of Mr. Trexler, maintains that there were various contracts for the purchase of the allegedly defective material, that they were all entered into by Evans at its Georgia plant and that Evans did no business in Québec. It further claims that it had no agreement with Kitchen International with respect to a showroom in Montreal and therefore, at least implicitly, denies any connection between such a showroom and its contracts to supply the allegedly defective goods. Mark Trexler further stated in his affidavit that, in his position as CEO of Evans, he had personal knowledge of Evans's contractual relationships and that he was unaware of any agreement with Kitchen International to develop or construct a showroom. Janet Shiell, one of the principals of Kitchen International, by contrast, stated in her affidavit that there was an agreement with Evans to create a showroom, and she produced paperwork purportedly related to that agreement (but no document embodying the agreement itself). Furthermore, she stated in a rebuttal affidavit that there was no reason for Trexler to know about the agreement because she (and others at Kitchen International) had dealings only with Gatti, [17] another employee of Evans. Kitchen International never makes clear the exact relationship between the alleged joint venture to create a showroom and the agreements to sell the allegedly defective material. [18] Furthermore, even if such an argument had been made successfully, [19] the district court's analysis of jurisdiction still is deficient. Absent from the district court's analysis is any discussion of the Gestalt factors, which, we have made clear, a court must consider to determine the fairness of subjecting the defendant to a foreign jurisdiction. Because the district court resolved material issues of fact against Evans, the nonmoving party, the judgment must be reversed. The controverted issues of fact that Evans has raised must be resolved. Accordingly, the judgment of the district court is reversed and the case is remanded for proceedings consistent with this opinion. [20] REVERSED and REMANDED