Opinion ID: 780667
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Due Process and Personal Jurisdiction

Text: 50 Austria maintains that even if an exception to sovereign immunity applies, Altmann's suit cannot be maintained unless the district court has personal jurisdiction over the Republic and the Gallery. Under the FSIA, however, personal jurisdiction over a foreign state exists where subject-matter jurisdiction exists and where proper service has been made. 28 U.S.C. § 1330(b). Because we hold that the paintings are subject to the expropriation exception of the FSIA, and there has been proper service of process under § 1608, as the Republic concedes, the court has personal jurisdiction over the Republic and the Gallery. 51 We also hold that, if the facts are as Altmann alleges, the assertion of personal jurisdiction over the Republic and the Gallery complies with the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. Assuming that a foreign state is a person for purposes of the Due Process Clause, Republic of Argentina v. Weltover, 504 U.S. 607, 619, 112 S.Ct. 2160, 119 L.Ed.2d 394 (1992), there must be sufficient minimum contacts between the foreign state and the forum such that maintenance of the suit does not offend traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice, Int'l Shoe Co. v. Washington, 326 U.S. 310, 316, 66 S.Ct. 154, 90 L.Ed. 95 (1945) (citation omitted). See also Theo. H. Davies & Co. v. Republic of the Marshall Islands, 174 F.3d 969, 974 & n. 3 (9th Cir.1999) ([W]e need not decide whether [the government agency] is a `person' for purposes of the Due Process Clause. We simply assume, without deciding, that both are.). Factors to be taken into consideration are whether the defendant makes sales, solicits or engages in business in the state, serves the state's markets, designates an agent for service of process, holds a license, or is incorporated there. Bancroft & Masters, Inc. v. Augusta Nat'l Inc., 223 F.3d 1082, 1086 (9th Cir.2000); see also Helicopteros Nacionales de Colombia, S.A. v. Hall, 466 U.S. 408, 418, 104 S.Ct. 1868, 80 L.Ed.2d 404 (1984). Where service is made under FSIA section 1608, the relevant area in delineating contacts is in the entire United States, not merely the forum state. Richmark Corp. v. Timber Falling Consultants, Inc., 937 F.2d 1444, 1447 (9th Cir.1991) (internal quotation marks and alterations omitted). 52 The Republic and the Gallery have sufficient minimum contacts with the United States such that maintenance of the suit does not offend traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice. As previously noted, the Gallery edits and publishes several publications in the United States, two of which capitalize on the very paintings at issue here. The Gallery's publication and marketing of these books is designed to solicit tourism by United States citizens in Austria and to attract those visitors to the Gallery, in particular to view the Klimt works. Both the Republic and the Gallery profit from the sales of the books and the resulting United States tourism. 53 Furthermore, it is not only the Gallery's activities in the forum, but also actions taken by the Government on behalf of the Gallery that support personal jurisdiction. See Texas Trading & Milling Corp. v. Fed. Republic of Nigeria, 647 F.2d 300, 314 (2d Cir.1981). The Austrian Press and Information Service of the Austrian Embassy has published a tourism brochure advertising the Klimt exhibition at the Austrian Gallery and featuring the portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer on its cover. This brochure is available at Austrian consulates throughout the United States, distributed to a large mailing list of individuals in the United States, and is widely available on the Internet. The advertisement and promotion of this exhibition directly benefit the Gallery. 54 The Republic itself does not contest that it has substantial, systematic, and continuous contacts with the United States through its operation of consulates, sponsorship of tourist relations and trade, and promotion of Austrian business interests. The Republic alone operates three consulates in the United States and twenty-six honorary consulates in the United States and its territories. 6 The Austrian Trade Commission and Austrian National Tourist Offices operate in both New York and Los Angeles. Austria also recently invested $400,000 in the renovation of the Rudolf Schindler house, a historic architectural landmark in Los Angeles. Thus Altmann has established continuous and systematic contacts. Helicopteros, 466 U.S. at 414-16 & nn. 8-9, 104 S.Ct. 1868; Siderman de Blake, 965 F.2d at 709-10 (finding jurisdiction where hotel solicited United States tourism and accepted United States credit cards for payment for guest reservations). We do not hold that these contacts are enough to support general jurisdiction, but they support the reasonableness of the assertion of specific jurisdiction based on the Gallery's publication of books and advertisements featuring the Klimt works. We conclude that fair play and substantial justice would not be offended if we maintain jurisdiction over Austria in this case.