Opinion ID: 602381
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Dismissal of Dow Quimica for Lack of Personal Jurisdiction

Text: 19 The defendants request that even if we conclude that they were not entitled to removal, we nevertheless affirm the district court's dismissal of Dow Quimica for lack of personal jurisdiction. Although such a disposition is conceptually troubling in that it sustains an order by the district court in a case over which the court did not have subject matter jurisdiction, prior decisions in this Circuit, based on considerations of fairness to the defendant challenging jurisdiction, permit such an outcome. In Walker v. Savell, 335 F.2d 536 (5th Cir.1964), we upheld the trial court's authority to dispose of a motion to quash service of process before hearing a pending remand motion. Id. at 538-39; accord Nolan v. Boeing Co., 736 F.Supp. 120, 122 (E.D.La.1990). See also Jones v. Petty-Ray Geophysical Geosource, Inc., 954 F.2d 1061, 1066 (5th Cir.1992) (citing Walker and Nolan ). 20 In determining whether such a disposition would be proper here, we observe that this case presents an instance in which the competing concern--federal intrusion into state courts' authority--is minimized. First, the defendants' removal was not frivolous. Although we concluded that a remand was warranted, at the time the defendants removed the case there was arguable merit to their request. Thus, they did not contrive to have Dow Quimica's dismissal motion heard by a plainly inappropriate tribunal. Second, the question of personal jurisdiction here is basically a constitutional one, not a matter of construing Texas law. See Guardian Royal Exchange Assurance, Ltd. v. English China Clays, P.L.C., 815 S.W.2d 223, 226 (Tex.1991) (Texas long-arm statute reaches as far as the federal constitutional requirements of due process will allow). Because the ultimate arbiter of this question of personal jurisdiction would be the United States Supreme Court, not the Texas Supreme Court, it is less intrusive for a federal court to decide the issue. For these reasons, we will consider the question of Dow Quimica's amenability to suit in Texas. 21 The original complaint in this case stated that the court had in personam jurisdiction over Dow Quimica, but did not allege any facts to support this conclusion. And, as previously noted, the plaintiffs' remand motion merely alleged two likely contacts of Dow Quimica with Texas: (1) it was probable that Dow Quimica purchased some of the spilled chemicals from Dow Chemical's Texas plant, and (2) according to files from the Colombian Ministry of Health, Dow Quimica's licensing application for the spilled chemicals relied upon at least five technical documents produced in Texas. The motion stated that verification of the first contact, and identification of others, would have to await discovery in the suit. Finally, at the hearing before the district court on the remand motion and the motions to dismiss, the plaintiffs offered a third contact: a blueprint bearing the label Dow Chemical U.S.A. and showing the plant's valves, apparently including the valve from which the chemical escaped. 22 The plaintiffs argue to this Court that because their remand motion was in response to Dow Chemical's removal based on fraudulent joinder, the burden rested with Dow Chemical, and this Court should find for the plaintiffs if it finds any possibility of recovery against the party whose joinder is questioned. Carriere v. Sears, Roebuck and Co., 893 F.2d 98, 100 (5th Cir.1990), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 817, 111 S.Ct. 60, 112 L.Ed.2d 35 (1991). Thus, the plaintiffs argue, their mere identification of potential jurisdictional contacts suffices at this stage. 23 We disagree. Dow Quimica filed a motion with the district court seeking dismissal for lack of personal jurisdiction, 10 and our foregoing discussion indicates that this motion can be considered prior to, and independently of, ultimate resolution of the merits of the motion to remand. Therefore, the burden, albeit a slight one, rests with the plaintiffs: though they need not prove the jurisdictional contacts by a preponderance of the evidence, they must present facts sufficient to constitute a prima facie case of personal jurisdiction. Bullion v. Gillespie, 895 F.2d 213, 216-17 (5th Cir.1990); WNS, Inc. v. Farrow, 884 F.2d 200, 203 (5th Cir.1989). The speculative contentions in their remand motion are not adequate, and the blueprint presented at the hearing, though it may suggest some type of connection to the United States, does not particularly suggest a connection to Texas. Moreover, the plaintiffs' contention that they were entitled to further discovery is unavailing; the case was removed two months before dismissal, and the record reflects that a deferral was requested only of plenary discovery--not of discovery into threshold jurisdictional issues. We hold that the district court properly dismissed Dow Quimica for want of in personam jurisdiction.