Opinion ID: 718605
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Period for Assessing Minimum Contacts

Text: 21 As a preliminary matter, the parties dispute the applicable time period for assessing a defendant's minimum contacts with the forum state. Met Life argues that the phrase continuous and systematic suggests an examination of the defendant's contacts over a period of several years before the filing of the lawsuit. Robertson, on the other hand, argues that minimum contacts should be assessed based on the defendant's contacts with the forum state only for the year in which the complaint was filed. Notwithstanding its earlier order permitting discovery on the question of Robertson's contacts between 1987 and 1993, the district court held that Robertson-Ceco's contacts with Vermont must be analyzed during 1993, the year plaintiff filed the action. 22 Few cases discuss explicitly the appropriate time period for assessing whether a defendant's contacts with the forum state are sufficiently continuous and systematic for the purposes of general jurisdiction. However, our review of general jurisdiction cases reveals that contacts are commonly assessed over a period of years prior to the plaintiff's filing of the complaint. For example, in Helicopteros, 466 U.S. at 409-11, 104 S.Ct. at 1868-71, the Supreme Court examined the defendant's contacts with the forum state over a seven-year period to determine whether it met the continuous and systematic minimum contacts test. Likewise, other circuits have examined minimum contacts over a reasonable period of years in general jurisdiction cases, see Wilson v. Belin, 20 F.3d 644, 650-51 (5th Cir.) (examining defendant's contacts with forum state over five-year period in assessing minimum contacts for general jurisdiction purposes), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 115 S.Ct. 322, 130 L.Ed.2d 282 (1994); Bearry, 818 F.2d at 372, 376 (analyzing defendant's contacts with forum state over five-year period in general jurisdiction case); Gates Learjet Corp. v. Jensen, 743 F.2d 1325, 1329, 1330-31 (9th Cir.1984) (examining defendant's contacts over three-year period in connection with general jurisdiction inquiry). Finally, our own circuit has suggested in dictum that examining a defendant's contacts over a period of several years is appropriate when applying the continuous and systematic standard, Braman v. Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hosp., 631 F.2d 6, 9 (2d Cir.1980) (implying that defendant's contacts with the forum state over five-year period relevant to minimum contacts inquiry). 23 Because the phrase continuous and systematic necessarily requires that courts evaluate the defendant's contact with the forum state over time, we find that, while the district court reasonably provided for discovery for a six-year period (1987-93), it later erred in mechanically limiting its jurisdictional inquiry to the year 1993. The minimum contacts inquiry is fact-intensive, and the appropriate period for evaluating a defendant's contacts will vary in individual cases. In general jurisdiction cases, district courts should examine a defendant's contacts with the forum state over a period that is reasonable under the circumstances--up to and including the date the suit was filed--to assess whether they satisfy the continuous and systematic standard. 9 The determination of what period is reasonable in the context of each case should be left to the court's discretion. 24 Inasmuch as the district court improperly limited its minimum contacts inquiry to the year 1993, we examine de novo Robertson's contacts with the state of Vermont between the years 1987 through 1993--the period the district court properly found to be reasonable for discovery purposes. 25