Court Opinion

ID: 9943533
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-02-23 19:01:04.445468+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:47:12.043481
License: Public Domain

Case: 22-60603       Document: 131-1         Page: 1   Date Filed: 02/23/2024

         United States Court of Appeals
              for the Fifth Circuit
                              ____________                          United States Court of Appeals
                                                                             Fifth Circuit

                                                                           FILED
                               No. 22-60603                        February 23, 2024
                              ____________
                                                                      Lyle W. Cayce
Glen Pace,                                                                 Clerk

                                                          Plaintiff—Appellant,

                                    versus

Cirrus Design Corporation, Individually and, doing business as
Cirrus Aircraft Corporation; Continental Motor
Corporation; Amsafe; Arapahoe Aero,

                                         Defendants—Appellees.
                ______________________________

                Appeal from the United States District Court
                  for the Southern District of Mississippi
                          USDC No. 2:22-CV-46
                ______________________________

Before Smith, Southwick, and Higginson, Circuit Judges.
Leslie H. Southwick, Circuit Judge:
       Glen Pace appeals the dismissal of his claims against multiple corpo-
rate defendants for the personal injuries he suffered from the crash of a sin-
gle-engine, general aviation airplane he was piloting. Pace filed this suit in
Mississippi state court, but it was later removed to federal district court. The
district court held the two Mississippi defendants were improperly joined,
which allowed removal, and then dismissed the claims against the out-of-
state defendants for lack of personal jurisdiction. We AFFIRM.
Case: 22-60603          Document: 131-1           Page: 2      Date Filed: 02/23/2024

                                      No. 22-60603

                 FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
        On November 22, 2019, Pace was piloting a Cirrus SR22T aircraft
owned by Martin Aviation, LLC when it crashed in Smith County, Texas.
He had no passengers. Pace’s flight began in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, con-
tinued to multiple Texas stops, and was to return to Hattiesburg. The crash
occurred during the aircraft’s flight between Terrell, Texas, and Gladewater,
Texas, when several components of the aircraft allegedly malfunctioned.
Pace, a Mississippi resident, suffered several severe injuries from the crash.
        Pace filed suit in a Mississippi state circuit court in November 2021.
He asserted multiple claims against corporate defendants Cirrus, Continen-
tal, Amsafe, and Apteryx, Inc. 1 Cirrus allegedly manufactured the aircraft
and its emergency parachute. Continental is the alleged manufacturer of the
aircraft’s engine. Amsafe is the alleged manufacturer of several safety fea-
tures on the aircraft: seatbelts, shoulder harnesses, and inertial reels. Apteryx
allegedly maintained, overhauled, rebuilt, and/or repaired the aircraft and/or
its engine. None of these corporate defendants are Mississippi-based.
        Pace amended his complaint in January 2022 to add four claims of
negligence and misrepresentation against Wade Walters, individually and do-
ing business as Performance Aviation, LLC. Walters is a resident of Missis-
sippi, and Performance Aviation is a Mississippi limited liability company.
They owned the aircraft from February 2014 until October 2017. Walters
and Performance Aviation lost possession of the aircraft in 2016 when it was
seized as part of a forfeiture action against Walters. Martin Aviation pur-
chased the aircraft at a court-sanctioned sale in October 2017 and remained
the registered owner until the crash.

        _____________________
        1
         Pace named Arapahoe Aero in his complaint, but that party alleges its correct legal
name is Apteryx. We will refer to “Apteryx.”

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       The non-Mississippi corporate defendants filed a notice of removal in
April 2022, removing the action to the United States District Court for the
Southern District of Mississippi. These defendants alleged Walters and Per-
formance Aviation had been fraudulently joined and diversity jurisdiction ex-
isted. Pace sought remand to state court, arguing he had viable claims against
the Mississippi defendants. The district court held Pace failed to state a
claim against either in-state defendant and there was fraudulent misjoinder.
       The diverse corporate defendants also filed motions to dismiss for lack
of personal jurisdiction. Pace requested jurisdictional discovery and filed op-
positions to each motion. The district court found that it lacked personal
jurisdiction over the corporate defendants, granted each motion to dismiss,
and denied Pace’s motion for jurisdictional discovery. Pace timely appealed.
                                DISCUSSION
       On appeal, Pace argues the district court erred in three ways: (1) find-
ing the two Mississippi defendants were fraudulently joined; (2) determining
it did not have personal jurisdiction over the non-Mississippi, corporate de-
fendants; and (3) denying Pace jurisdictional discovery.
       A district court’s denial of remand and determination of personal ju-
risdiction are both reviewed de novo. Clemens v. McNamee, 615 F.3d 374, 378
(5th Cir. 2010); Great Plains Tr. Co. v. Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co., 313
F.3d 305, 311 (5th Cir. 2002). A district court’s ruling on a remand motion
“under the fraudulent joinder doctrine” is also reviewed de novo. Johnson v.
Heublein Inc., 227 F.3d 236, 240 (5th Cir. 2000).
       We now discuss each of Pace’s contentions.
  I.   Fraudulent joinder of the Mississippi defendants
       Pace argues the Mississippi defendants were properly joined based on
plausible negligence and misrepresentation claims. The validity of the

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                                  No. 22-60603

district court’s decision that they were improperly joined turns on whether
Pace sufficiently pled at least one viable cause of action against either Walters
or Performance Aviation.
       Defendants may remove a civil action brought in state court to federal
court if the action is within a federal court’s original jurisdiction. 28 U.S.C.
§ 1441(a). The removal statute is strictly construed, with doubts “resolved
in favor of remand.” Gutierrez v. Flores, 543 F.3d 248, 251 (5th Cir. 2008).
Defendants may remove an action based on diversity jurisdiction only if there
is complete diversity between all named parties, “and no defendant is a citi-
zen of the forum State.” Lincoln Prop. Co. v. Roche, 546 U.S. 81, 84 (2005).
If a non-diverse defendant is fraudulently joined, however, the citizenship of
that party can be ignored. Williams v. Homeland Ins. Co. of New York, 18 F.4th
806, 812 (5th Cir. 2021). “[W]e have recognized two ways to establish im-
proper joinder: ‘(1) actual fraud in the pleading of jurisdictional facts, or (2)
inability of the plaintiff to establish a cause of action against the non-diverse
party in state court.’” Smallwood v. Ill. Cent. R.R. Co., 385 F.3d 568, 573 (5th
Cir. 2004) (en banc). Only the second way is relevant to this appeal.
       An in-state defendant is fraudulently joined when the moving “de-
fendant has demonstrated that there is no possibility” the plaintiff can re-
cover against the in-state defendant. Id. One method courts utilize to deter-
mine fraudulent joinder is to review the allegations within the complaint un-
der “a Rule 12(b)(6)-type analysis.” Id. If there is a possibility that, when
looking at the facts and inferences in a light most favorable to the plaintiff,
the plaintiff could succeed in establishing a claim against the defendant, the
defendant’s citizenship must not be disregarded. Great Plains Tr. Co., 313
F.3d at 311.

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                                  No. 22-60603

       The district court addressed three claims against the Mississippi de-
fendants: breach of contract, fraudulent misrepresentation, and negligence.
Only the misrepresentation and negligence claims are disputed.
          a. Fraudulent misrepresentation
       Because Pace’s misrepresentation claim “sound[s] in fraud,” we as-
sume, as did the district court, that his claim was for fraudulent misrepresen-
tation. Lone Star Ladies Inv. Club v. Schlotzsky’s Inc., 238 F.3d 363, 369 (5th
Cir. 2001). Under Mississippi law, fraudulent misrepresentation requires:
       (1) a representation; (2) its falsity; (3) its materiality; (4) the
       speaker’s knowledge of its falsity or ignorance of the truth; (5)
       his intent that it should be acted on by the hearer and in the
       manner reasonably contemplated; (6) the hearer’s ignorance of
       its falsity; (7) his reliance on the truth; (8) his right to rely
       thereon; and (9) his consequent and proximate injury.
Elchos v. Haas, 178 So. 3d 1183, 1198 (Miss. 2015).
       The claimed fraudulent misrepresentation here is the prior owner’s
assertion, in some manner, that the aircraft did not have the defects that
caused Pace’s injuries. The district court found Pace’s allegations failed to
meet either the Mississippi or the federal pleading standard.
       The federal standard is found in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 9(b):
       Fraud or Mistake; Conditions of Mind. In alleging fraud or
       mistake, a party must state with particularity the circumstances
       constituting fraud or mistake. Malice, intent, knowledge, and
       other conditions of a person’s mind may be alleged generally.
Rule 9(b)’s heightened pleading requirements apply when a plaintiff’s mis-
representation claim “sound[s] in fraud.” Lone Star Ladies Inv. Club, 238
F.3d at 368–69. Because Pace’s misrepresentation claims are based on al-
leged false statements, he must satisfy Rule 9(b)’s heightened pleading. Id.

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       This rule does separate pleading the factual circumstances of the fraud
from pleading the state of mind. As to the circumstances supporting fraud,
we have held that they must be alleged with particularity. United States v.
Bollinger Shipyards, Inc., 775 F.3d 255, 260 (5th Cir. 2014). The district court
called this the “who, what, when, where, and how of the fraud or misrepre-
sentation,” which is a fair characterization. We do not find any discussion of
the pleading of “conditions of a person’s mind” in the district court’s opin-
ion. FED. R. CIV. P. 9(b). The less demanding pleading standard that applies
to that is not the reason the court found Pace’s complaint inadequate. It was
instead because Pace failed to allege a misrepresentation or false information
with particularity.
       The district court also held the state pleading requirements were not
satisfied. We need not review that holding, because even in a diversity suit
in which state law controls the merits of a claim, federal pleading standards
apply. Weatherly v. Pershing, LLC, 945 F.3d 915, 925 (5th Cir. 2019) (citing
Hanna v. Plumer, 380 U.S. 460, 465 (1965)). It is true that the live complaint
was filed in state court before removal, but federal pleading rules applied after
removal. To the extent a state complaint does not meet federal standards, a
motion to amend to meet those standards can be filed.
       Pace’s amended complaint alleges that Walters was responsible for
various defects, and that he sold the plane in a non-airworthy condition. The
record demonstrates, however, that Walters had little to no involvement with
the sale. The United States government seized the plane in a forfeiture action
based on Walters’ criminal conviction for his involvement in a conspiracy to
defraud. An aircraft bill of sale from Walters to Martin Aviation in 2017 was
attached to the complaint, but it does not detail how the sale occurred. At
the pleading stage, uncertainties arising outside the complaint about what
representations Walters could possibly have made will be ignored.

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                                      No. 22-60603

        In considering the sufficiency of the misrepresentation allegations, we
first examine the section of the complaint Pace’s reply brief cites. The brief
summarizes that the amended complaint, on a specific page, alleged that
when the plane was sold, “Walters and Performance [Aviation] misrepre-
sented to subsequent pilots that the aircraft was in ‘airworthy condition,’ de-
spite the fact the Continental aircraft engine, and their component parts,
were not airworthy, were defective, and were in an unreasonably dangerous
condition.” We do not find such claims in the section cited, which contains
paragraphs 39 and 40 of the amended complaint. Nonetheless, we did dis-
cover in paragraph 31 what we conclude are the allegations on which Pace
now relies. We detail some of those allegations.
        First, the amended complaint asserts that, among others, Walters and
Performance Aviation “inspected, modified, annualled,[2] repaired, rebuilt,
overhauled, and installed the Cirrus aircraft, Continental engine, and their
component parts and certified the Cirrus aircraft, Continental engine, Cirrus
emergency parachute,” and other possibly defective parts and equipment
“as being airworthy, safe, not defective, and not unreasonably dangerous.”
The next sentence claims: “Contrary to the representations and certifica-
tions made in the repair documents, inspection documents, overhaul docu-
ments, the annuals, the aircraft logs, the engine logs, and the aircraft and en-
gine maintenance documents by” all the defendants that the aircraft and all
relevant parts “were safe, airworthy, and not defective, when actually, the
aircraft, the aircraft engine, and their component parts were defective, un-
safe, unreasonably dangerous, and unairworthy.” Finally, all the defendants
were alleged to have “carelessly inspected, modified, repaired, annualled, re-
built, certified, installed, and/or overhauled the Cirrus aircraft” and the
        _____________________
        2
         “Annualled” appears in several allegations. It seems to be a term used to refer to
the annual inspection of general-aviation aircraft.

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                                      No. 22-60603

relevant parts, “and falsely represented” that the aircraft and component
parts “were airworthy, safe, not defective, and not unreasonably danger-
ous.” 3
          None of those allegations separately identify the roles of individual de-
fendants and, specifically for our issue, do not explain how Walters or Per-
formance Aviation “certified” or “represented” anything relating to the
plane to Pace. We explained earlier that Pace filed his initial and amended
complaint in state court. There is no purpose for us to explore whether such
allegations generally against all defendants would have sufficed in Mississippi
state court. Our issue is whether they satisfy Rule 9(b).
          Pace contends the district court applied an impossible standard when
it relied on Rule 9(b)’s heightened pleading standard and required him to al-
lege he was the “hearer” of the misrepresentations. Further, Pace argues the
district court completely ignored that he read the false statements in the air-
craft logs, and his reading the statements was sufficient to survive a motion
to dismiss.
          Even though the district court did not mention in its decision that Pace
would have read the allegedly fraudulent information, reading the misrepre-
sentation is only one element of the claim. The critical element of misrepre-
sentation is the false statement itself, and Pace needed to offer more than
“[t]hreadbare recitals of the elements . . . [or] mere conclusory statements”
of falsity to survive a motion to dismiss. Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678
(2009).

          _____________________
          3
          Other paragraphs of the amended complaint assert that Walters and Performance
Aviation “represented” the safety of the aircraft, but what we have excerpted here are the
only efforts to explain how the defendants made those representations.

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                                 No. 22-60603

       To the contrary, Pace asserts fraud can be pled generally, and “a
sketch of the fraud . . . and when and where the claims occurred” is sufficient
to establish fraudulent misrepresentation, citing United States ex rel. Grubbs
v. Kanneganti, 565 F.3d 180, 185–86 (5th Cir. 2009). A “sketch” can vary in
detail, and we seek a clear picture of what that means. The Grubbs opinion
does not use the word “sketch,” instead explaining “without apology” that
Rule 9(b) imposes a heightened pleading requirement:
       In cases of fraud, Rule 9(b) has long played that screening func-
       tion, standing as a gatekeeper to discovery, a tool to weed out
       meritless fraud claims sooner than later. We apply Rule 9(b) to
       fraud complaints with “bite” and “without apology,” but also
       aware that Rule 9(b) supplements but does not supplant Rule
       8(a)’s notice pleading. Rule 9(b) does not “reflect a subscrip-
       tion to fact pleading” and requires only “simple, concise, and
       direct” allegations of the “circumstances constituting fraud,”
       which after Twombly must make relief plausible, not merely
       conceivable, when taken as true.
Grubbs, 565 F.3d at 185–86 (footnote citations omitted) (referring to Bell Atl.
Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007)).
       In Grubbs, the court held the requirements of heightened pleading are
“context specific and flexible and must remain so to achieve the remedial
purpose of the False Claim[s] Act.” Id. at 190. The context was a False
Claims Act pleading, and what concerned the court was that “[t]he particular
circumstances constituting the fraudulent presentment are often harbored in
the scheme.” Id. For that case’s specific purposes, the court held that “if
[the relator’s complaint] cannot allege the details of an actually submitted
false claim, [it] may nevertheless survive by alleging particular details of a
scheme to submit false claims paired with reliable indicia that lead to a strong
inference that claims were actually submitted.” Id.

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                                 No. 22-60603

       For our purposes, the context of a False Claims Act lawsuit is not the
proper analogy. Pace’s complaint alleges a variety of entities with a variety
of connections to a specific aircraft misrepresented its condition as a whole
and of component parts that later allegedly failed. We see no hidden scheme
here but instead a series of identified transactions with identified documen-
tation. If only speculation connects a defendant to any misrepresentations,
that is not a plausible claim. Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555.
       Pace does not allege any direct involvement with Walters and Perfor-
mance Aviation. At best, Pace is alleging that during the period of those de-
fendants’ ownership, logbooks and other records were falsely maintained.
No document attached to the complaint shows a representation by Walters
of airworthiness or anything else. There is a completed Federal Aviation Ad-
ministration (“FAA”) form applying for a certificate of airworthiness, but it
is signed by Cirrus without any reference to Walters or Performance Avia-
tion. There also is an application made in 2014 by Walters and Performance
Aviation to register as the owner of the airplane with the FAA. The only
other document involving Walters or Performance Aviation is the previously
mentioned bill of sale from 2017, which shows when Martin Aviation became
the new owner.
       Therefore, neither by allegation nor supportive exhibit does the com-
plaint show with specificity how Walters or Performance Aviation misrepre-
sented anything. Pace failed to (1) allege a connection between either Mis-
sissippi defendant to the airworthiness certifications, and (2) identify a spe-
cific misstatement made by Walters or Performance Aviation.
       The fraudulent misrepresentation claim was thus not sufficiently pled
against the Mississippi defendants.

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                                       No. 22-60603

            b. Negligence
        The district court held Pace also failed to assert a negligence claim be-
cause he could not establish the required duty element. A plaintiff ultimately
must prove each element of negligence — duty, breach, causation, and injury
— to recover damages. Mississippi Dep’t of Mental Health v. Hall, 936 So. 2d
917, 922 (Miss. 2006). If any one element is not established, the claim fails.
See id. Pace argues, and the district court acknowledged, that the duty owed
by Walters and Performance Aviation would be derived from the FAA regu-
lations, specifically 14 C.F.R. §§ 91.403(a) and 91.405.
        The district court determined the duty assigned under these regula-
tions “appear[ed] to be [on] the current owner or operator.” The only au-
thority the district court discovered was from an intermediate Illinois state
court. See South Side Tr. & Sav. Bank of Peoria v. Mitsubishi Heavy Indus., 927
N.E.2d 179 (Ill. App. Ct. 2010). More importantly, the district court rea-
soned that the plain meaning of these FAA regulations requires the duty to
maintain and inspect an aircraft lie with the current owner, not the previous
owner. The duty Walters and Performance Aviation did owe was to Martin
Aviation, not Pace, and passed through the October 2017 sale, ceasing to exist
when their ownership ended.
        Pace contends the district court erroneously relied on this “irrele-
vant” caselaw rather than Mississippi’s adoption of the FAA regulations. 4
He argues that South Side Trust was solely an application of Illinois law. Mis-
sissippi, he argues, adopted the entirety of Sections 91.403(a) and 91.405 in

        _____________________
        4
          Pace argued that the RESTATEMENT (SECOND) OF TORTS § 388 applies to this
claim, but the district court refused to address the merits of that argument because Pace
did not timely raise the argument in the proper pleading. The district court did not err, nor
do we, in declining to address this argument. See United States v. Jackson, 426 F.3d 301,
304 n.2 (5th Cir. 2005).

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Mississippi Code §§ 61–1–3 and 61–11–1. Pace argues those statutes alleg-
edly treat owners like pilots, protect the public from their negligence, and do
not narrow the duty to only “the plane’s current owner at the time of the
accident.” Because Walters had exclusive control as owner from 2014 to
2017, Pace argues he had a duty to maintain the aircraft, and noncompliance
with Section 91.403(a) is evidence of a breach of that duty.
       Perhaps Pace cites these statutes to establish a negligence per se duty,
which can be shown if a statute creates a standard of care. That possibility
has not been briefed, and we need not explore the caselaw. The key point
Pace wishes us to accept is that the Mississippi statutes extend negligence
liability far more broadly than just to the current owner or authorized user.
We do not see any support for that argument in these state statutes. One
statute provides that it is “unlawful for any person to operate an aircraft in
the air or on the ground or water, while under the influence of intoxicating
liquor, narcotics or other habit-forming drug, or to operate an aircraft in the
air or on the ground or water, in a careless or reckless manner.” Miss. Code
Ann. § 61–11–1(1). Obviously, Pace’s injuries in this case do not arise from
Walters’ or Performance Aviation’s violating this Mississippi statute. We
now examine the cited FAA regulations to determine their applicability.
       When interpreting regulations, this court begins and may end with the
plain language. United States v. Fafalios, 817 F.3d 155, 159 (5th Cir. 2016).
One cited regulation states: “The owner or operator of an aircraft is primarily
responsible for maintaining that aircraft in an airworthy condition.”
14 C.F.R. § 91.403(a). Another provides that “[e]ach owner or operator”
retains certain maintenance duties. § 91.405. The Mississippi defendants,
however, no longer had ownership rights and were not operators at the time
of Pace’s crash.

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          The only two courts that have interpreted these FAA regulations held
that Sections 91.403 and 91.405 imply a duty of maintenance only to current
owners of an aircraft. See South Side Tr., 927 N.E.2d at 189–90; Raffile v.
Exec. Aircraft Maint., No. CV12-0365, 2012 WL 4361409, at *5 (D. Ariz.
Sept. 25, 2012). Both the South Side Trust and Raffile courts analyzed negli-
gence claims against former owners of aircraft that crashed. In South Side
Trust, the aircraft in question was sold by the defendant two months prior to
the crash. 927 N.E.2d at 185. The aircraft in Raffile was sold the day before
the crash. 2012 WL 4361409, at *1.
          As in this case, ownership of both aircraft ended prior to the crash,
but, unlike the short periods between the sales and crashes in those cases,
Walters’ ownership ended two years prior to the 2019 crash. Both the Ari-
zona and Illinois courts ruled that the FAA regulations do not imply a con-
tinuing duty on previous owners. Id. at *5; South Side Tr., 927 N.E.2d at 189–
90. Instead, a maintenance responsibility of airworthiness is imposed only on
“the current owner rather than the past owner.” South Side Tr., 927 N.E.2d
at 189.
          We have summarized these two decisions but do not rely on them. We
agree, though, that the text of these federal regulations is most reasonably
interpreted as not imposing the continuing liability on former owners and op-
erators for whatever maintenance shortcomings may have existed during
their prior ownership or use. This means Pace failed to plead viable negli-
gence claims against the Mississippi defendants.
          There are no valid claims pled against Walters or Performance Avia-
tion. Thus, remand to state court was properly denied. We now examine
whether there was personal jurisdiction over the diverse defendants.

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 II.   Personal jurisdiction over the corporate defendants
       For a court to issue a binding judgment against a defendant, it must
have both subject matter and personal jurisdiction over the defendant. Per-
vasive Software Inc. v. Lexware GmbH & Co. KG, 688 F.3d 214, 231–32 (5th
Cir. 2012). A district court has personal jurisdiction over a nonresident de-
fendant if the forum’s long-arm statute creates personal jurisdiction over the
defendant and this exercise of personal jurisdiction comports with federal
due process. Revell v. Lidov, 317 F.3d 467, 469 (5th Cir. 2002). Here, the
district court found that Pace failed to meet the required burden of proving
either component of personal jurisdiction over the corporate defendants. We
review the district court’s decision.
           a. Mississippi’s long-arm statute
       Mississippi’s long-arm statute authorizes personal jurisdiction over a
nonresident defendant in three situations: if the defendant (1) makes a con-
tract with a resident of Mississippi to be performed in whole or in part in
Mississippi; (2) commits a tort in whole or in part in Mississippi; or (3) con-
ducts any business or performs any character of work in Mississippi. Miss.
Code Ann. § 13–3–57. “Satisfaction of any of the three prongs, be it through
contract, tort, or doing business, establishes personal jurisdiction over a non-
resident corporation.” Adara Networks Inc. v. Langston, 301 So. 3d 618, 623
(Miss. 2020).
                   i.     Entering a contract
       The district court accepted each corporate defendant’s affidavit
declaring it is not a party to any contract with Pace. Facts asserted by
defendants in their affidavits that are undisputed by factually supported
allegations in a plaintiff’s affidavit are taken as true. Black v. Acme Mkts., Inc.,
564 F.2d 681, 683 n.3 (5th Cir. 1977).

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       Pace presents no facts, merely conclusory statements, that there is
contract liability here to contradict the defendants’ affidavits. Without facts
directly contradicting the defendants’ affidavits, the district court correctly
relied on the corporate defendants’ affidavits as true and found there was no
contract that could support long-arm jurisdiction.
                  ii.     Committing a tort
       The district court rejected the possibility of the commission of a tort
in Mississippi because the plane crash, any equipment failure, and the
injuries all occurred in Texas. The district court specifically determined that
Pace failed to allege any facts to demonstrate how the tort’s effects were felt
in Mississippi.
       One authority on which Pace relies to combat this determination also
involved an out-of-state plane crash. See Breedlove v. Beech Aircraft Corp., 334
F. Supp. 1361 (N.D. Miss. 1971). That decision allowed a Mississippi
resident to bring a tort action against nonresident defendants stemming from
an Arkansas plane crash, but the claim was based on strict liability related to
a defectively designed product’s placement in the stream of commerce. Id.
at 1365. Pace’s claims are those of negligent repair, service, and inspection
by all defendants, and “defective and unreasonably dangerous” products
whose conditions were “hidden and concealed.” His claims do not sound in
strict liability and are thus distinguishable from Breedlove. Instead, Pace
contends this tortious conduct existed by alleging only that the aircraft and
restraint systems must have been defective.
       It is undisputed that any alleged conduct committed by the corporate
defendants occurred outside Mississippi. Apteryx performed a required 50-
hour inspection of the aircraft at its Colorado facility, where the aircraft was
picked up. Continental’s engine design, manufacturing, and certification
occurred in Alabama, and delivery of said engine occurred in Minnesota.

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Amsafe’s safety parts were manufactured in Arizona and delivered to
Minnesota. Cirrus then designed, manufactured, sold, and delivered the
aircraft in Minnesota. The aircraft subsequently crashed in Texas.
       Pace contends the Mississippi long-arm statute’s application to a tort
committed in the state includes torts committed outside the state that result
in foreseeable effects in Mississippi. See First Miss. Nat’l Bank v. S&K Enters.
of Jackson, Inc., 460 So. 2d 839, 843 (Miss. 1984). Pace argues the tort does
not have to occur entirely in Mississippi when the long-arm statute only
requires part of the tort to do so. Indeed, the Mississippi Supreme Court has
recognized that injuries and damages are a factor that can establish that a tort
occurred at least in part in Mississippi. See Flight Line, Inc. v. Tanksley, 608
So. 2d 1149, 1156–57 (Miss. 1992). For purposes of the tort prong of
Mississippi’s long-arm statute, an injury caused to a Mississippi resident
within Mississippi will subject a nonresident defendant to personal
jurisdiction because “[a] tort is not complete until the injury occurs.” Smith
v. Temco, Inc., 252 So. 2d 212, 216 (Miss. 1971). Pace’s medical treatment,
which was extensive and expensive, did occur while he was in Mississippi. Is
treatment for injury enough, though, to constitute an injury in Mississippi for
purposes of personal jurisdiction?
       The corporate defendants argue these damages do not constitute an
actual injury felt in the state of Mississippi as defined for purposes of personal
jurisdiction. We agree. Here, the tort was completed in Texas when Pace
suffered his injuries from the plane crash. Pace is seeking to extend the injury
element of a tort into “its resultant consequences, such as pain and suffering,
economic effects or other collateral consequences that often stem from the
actual injury.” Jobe v. ATR Mktg., Inc., 87 F.3d 751, 753 (5th Cir. 1996) (Jolly,
J.). This court determined “consequences stemming from the actual tort
injury do not confer personal jurisdiction.” Id. Although we cited no
Mississippi authority to support the holding, we relied on caselaw from other

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states with similar long-arm statutes. Id. at 753 n.3. The Mississippi Supreme
Court has quoted and endorsed Jobe’s language about “collateral
consequences” not being a relevant injury, giving an official stamp of
approval to Judge Jolly’s analysis. See Dunn v. Yager, 58 So. 3d 1171, 1184
(Miss. 2011).
       Pace’s injuries from the crash occurred in Texas. Pace describes his
injuries that occurred in Mississippi after the crash as “pain and suffering.”
These consequences do not support personal jurisdiction. Id. While Pace’s
medical costs and damages may continue in Mississippi as that is his place of
residence, his injury that completed the tort occurred “entirely in Texas.”
The district court, therefore, did not err in finding Pace’s resulting damages,
economic effects, and pain and suffering in Mississippi to be insufficient to
qualify as a tortious effect under the tort prong.
                 iii.     Doing business
       The district court explained that Mississippi’s long-arm statute au-
thorizes personal jurisdiction when a defendant does any business in the state
of Mississippi. See ITL Int’l, Inc. v. Constenla, S.A., 669 F.3d 493, 498 (5th
Cir. 2012). Amsafe concedes it does limited business in Mississippi, but the
other corporate defendants deny doing any business in the state. The district
court again relied on Continental’s, Cirrus’s, and Apteryx’s sworn affidavits
to conclude the defendants do not do business within Mississippi. It found
that Pace failed to allege “specific facts in a controverting sworn affidavit.”
       Pace insists each defendant does business in Mississippi. We consider
the evidence as to the different defendants except for Amsafe, who concedes
conducting some business in the state.
       First, Continental. Pace argues Continental does business in
Mississippi by (1) emphasizing the presence of its engines in Mississippi
through its website and marketing materials; (2) advertising its products and

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services in Mississippi; (3) performing repairs and maintenance on engines
in Mississippi; (4) accepting a substantial sum for the sale of the engine at
issue and replacement products; (5) operating fixed base operations to
service and inspect its engines; and (6) having 878 Continental engines
registered in Mississippi.
       Continental’s sworn affidavit is evidence that supports the contrary.
It asserts that Continental is not licensed to do business in Mississippi; has
no registered agents, offices, dealers, bank accounts, addresses, or distribu-
tors in Mississippi; and has never paid taxes in Mississippi. Pace alleges that
Continental repairs engines and has “fixed based operations” in Mississippi,
but there is no evidence of that. Even if aircraft purchasers register the planes
or engines in Mississippi, that does not mean Continental is doing business
in the state.
       As to Cirrus, Pace contends that Cirrus does business in Mississippi
because it (1) applied for an FAA U.S. Airworkers Certificate; (2) sold the
aircraft at issue to a Mississippi resident; (3) registered said aircraft in Mis-
sissippi; (4) had an authorized service center in Madison, Mississippi; (5) had
38 registered Cirrus aircraft in Mississippi; (6) serviced and registered the
aircraft at issue in Mississippi since 2014; (7) hangered said aircraft only in
Mississippi; (8) advertised its fixed base operators in Mississippi on its web-
site as having the ability to service all its aircraft; and (9) was “so prevalent
in Mississippi that it is not unfair to haul Cirrus into” a Mississippi court.
       Cirrus presented an affidavit about its operations. Both the affidavit
and the original sales document for the aircraft at issue establish the aircraft
was manufactured, sold, and delivered to Walters and Performance Aviation
in Minnesota. Cirrus obtained its airworthiness certificate prior to the deliv-
ery of the aircraft. The remaining allegations are, according to Cirrus,

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misplaced because they are based on affidavits presented by persons unaffili-
ated with Cirrus and its business or discuss repair stations unaffiliated with
Cirrus.
       Applicable to Continental, Cirrus, and Amsafe, Pace contends that the
defendants’ advertising “in various aviation publications and on [their] web-
site[s]” qualifies as doing business in Mississippi. A defendants’ “highly in-
teractive website[]” is some evidence of doing business in Mississippi. Fitch
v. Wine Express, Inc., 297 So. 3d 224, 227–30 (Miss. 2020). The determina-
tion “of whether a defendant is ‘doing business’ within” Mississippi, how-
ever, is done “on an ad hoc basis.” McDaniel v. Ritter, 556 So. 2d 303, 308
(Miss. 1989). Here, the only evidence of the defendants’ advertising or web-
site traffic is in an affidavit from Pace’s attorney. It states, based on the at-
torney’s personal review of the aviation periodicals and websites, that the de-
fendants’ products “are marketed worldwide which includes the State of
Mississippi.” The websites and advertisements also indicate that the defend-
ants’ products “can be and are shipped to Mississippi; thereby creating a
constant presence in the State of Mississippi.” Finally, the websites and ad-
vertisements indicate that “shipping of those component parts by Cirrus,
Continental, and Amsafe is so common and pervasive that the Defendants
cannot state they are not doing business in the State of Mississippi.” None
of those assertions provide facts other than Mississippi is one part of the en-
tire world reached by these companies’ advertisements and products.
       What to make of the following assertion in the affidavit needs separate
discussion: “The airworthiness pages also represent and advertise that Cir-
rus, Continental, and Amsafe are available in Mississippi to service the prod-
ucts, repair the products, maintain the products, inspect the products, over-
haul the products, and annual the products on a worldwide basis, which in-
cludes the State of Mississippi.” No exhibits are attached to indicate what is
meant by “airworthiness pages,” and how the defendants made these

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representations on those pages. The only other references in the affidavit to
airworthiness concern FAA-issued “Amsafe Airworthiness Directives,”
copies of which are attached to the affidavit. Some aid in understanding the
contention comes from Pace’s response to the motion to dismiss, to which
counsel’s affidavit was an exhibit. Among the assertions there is that evi-
dence of Continental’s doing business in Mississippi is “the continuous mail-
ings of airworthiness directives to individuals, owners, and operators of air-
craft in Mississippi who have Continental engines in their airplanes.” Here,
too, the evidence at best supports that the defendants’ products are owned
by Mississippi residents. None of this constitutes evidence of a “continuing
and substantial . . . nature” of activities in Mississippi sufficient to establish
“doing business” in Mississippi. See Ritter, 556 So. 2d at 309.
         Regarding Apteryx, Pace argues “it is uncontested” the company
does business in Mississippi by (1) directing its engine overhaul and repair
services to Mississippi; (2) repairing Cirrus aircraft and Continental engines
in Mississippi; and (3) having Cirrus endorse its work. No evidence to sup-
port those claims was offered. Pace also contended Apteryx’s service and
inspection offers, which were directed at whichever states the aircraft and en-
gine are located and where the owner lives, equate to doing business in Mis-
sissippi. An affidavit by Apteryx’s president, though, states it does not per-
form services in Mississippi; all its maintenance and repair work is completed
at its Colorado facility, and third-party endorsement by Cirrus does not qual-
ify as conduct by Apteryx. Importantly, the work Apteryx performed on any
Mississippi resident’s aircraft, including the one here, was completed in Col-
orado.
         The district court found these allegations, though asserting each de-
fendant does a type of business in Mississippi, do not rely on specific facts to
controvert the affidavits presented by the defendants. Nonetheless, the court
acknowledged the doing-business prong of Mississippi’s long-arm statute is

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broad, authorizing “any character of work” in the state for personal jurisdic-
tion. ITL Int’l, Inc., 669 F.3d at 498 (emphasis omitted). Accordingly, the
district court, as an alternative holding, assumed all corporate defendants
were doing business in Mississippi.
       We do not endorse the district court’s assumption, but we will analyze
the case based on its effect, which is that Mississippi’s long-arm statute cre-
ates personal jurisdiction. We now examine whether the exercise of personal
jurisdiction satisfies federal due process. Revell, 317 F.3d at 469.
          b. Due process
       The district court held it had neither specific nor general personal ju-
risdiction for any corporate defendant. We review that determination.
                  i.     General jurisdiction
       For general jurisdiction to be present, due process requires that a de-
fendant have “sufficiently systematic and continuous” contacts with the fo-
rum state, Holt Oil & Gas Corp. v. Harvey, 801 F.2d 773, 777 (5th Cir. 1986),
such that the defendant feels “at home” in the forum state, Daimler AG v.
Bauman, 571 U.S. 117, 137 (2014) (quoting Goodyear Dunlop Tires Operations,
S.A. v. Brown, 564 U.S. 915, 927 (2011)).
       A corporation is at home where its place of incorporation and its prin-
cipal place of business are located. Id. at 137. General jurisdiction can also
be present when “exceptional” circumstances allow a corporate defendant’s
operations to “be so substantial and of such a nature as to render the corpo-
ration at home in” the forum. Id. at 139 n.19. We have recognized these
exceptional circumstances are “incredibly difficult to establish.” Frank v. P
N K (Lake Charles) LLC, 947 F.3d 331, 336 (5th Cir. 2020).
       It is undisputed that none of the defendants are incorporated in or
have their principal place of business in Mississippi. Therefore, the district

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court ruled there was no personal jurisdiction over any corporate defendant.
Because Amsafe is the one defendant registered to do business in the state,
Pace argues it had, by operation of law, consented to suit in Mississippi, even
under general jurisdiction. To support that argument, Pace cites Mallory v.
Norfolk Southern Railway Co., 600 U.S. 122, 134–35 (2023). Pace contends
Mallory specifically authorized general jurisdiction over Amsafe because it is
registered to do business in Mississippi under its foreign corporation regis-
tration laws.
       To analyze this argument, we start with Mississippi’s statutory re-
quirements for foreign corporations to register to do business within the
state. Miss. Code Ann. § 79–4–15. One such requirement is to have an agent
registered for service of process on the corporation. § 79–4–15.03(5). Once
a corporation is registered, it becomes “subject to the same duties, re-
strictions, penalties and liabilities now or later imposed on, a domestic cor-
poration of like character.” § 79–4–15.05(b).
       The Supreme Court a century earlier discussed such statutes in Penn-
sylvania Fire Insurance Co. of Philadelphia v. Gold Issue Mining & Milling Co.,
243 U.S. 93 (1917). Missouri required any company licensed to do business
in the state to name a person with the power of attorney to consent that ser-
vice of process on that person would suffice for service on the company in
any suit. Id. at 94. In Mallory, the Court later held that Pennsylvania’s reg-
istration requirements for corporations that included explicit consent to gen-
eral jurisdiction did not violate due process by authorizing consent through
registration. 600 U.S. at 134–36. Mallory analyzes what a state may require;
we still must examine the state law to find what it does require.
       Mississippi law does not follow the consent-by-registration doctrine.
The Mississippi Registered Agents Act provides that a registered agent of an
entity is authorized to receive service of process of any notice to the entity

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and then forward that service to the entity itself. Miss. Code Ann. §§ 79–35–
13, 79–35–14. Nonetheless, “[t]he appointment or maintenance in [Missis-
sippi] of a registered agent does not by itself create the basis for personal ju-
risdiction over the represented entity in this state.” § 79–35–15. This estab-
lishes that Mississippi explicitly negates consent-by-registration. See Jeffrey
L. Rensberger, Consent to Jurisdiction Based on Registering to Do Business: A
Limited Role for General Jurisdiction, 58 SAN DIEGO L. REV. 309, 324 (2021)
(agreeing that Mississippi law does not make the naming of a registered agent
a consent to suit).
       Nothing in Mallory or Pennsylvania Fire supports that due process re-
quires a state to assume personal jurisdiction over a corporation that has a
registered agent. It is constitutional for a state not to do so. Thus, even
though Amsafe is registered to do business in Mississippi, consent-by-regis-
tration does not apply. Also, the evidence shows that Amsafe, like the other
corporate defendants, lacks sufficient contacts to be “at home” in Missis-
sippi. The district court correctly determined that all the corporate defend-
ants, including Amsafe, are not subject to general jurisdiction in Mississippi.
                  ii.     Specific jurisdiction
       The district court held that it did not have specific jurisdiction over
any corporate defendant because Pace “did not establish a cause of action
under either [the contract or tort prong] of the long arm statute that could
give rise to specific jurisdiction.” It relied on our Holt Oil opinion to con-
clude that specific jurisdiction requires a specific act to occur in the forum,
and only the contract and tort prongs, not the doing-business prong, can sup-
ply that specific act. See Holt Oil, 801 F.2d at 777–79.
       This court stated in Holt Oil that specific jurisdiction requires an “af-
firmative act” by the defendant in the forum. Id. at 777. We do not interpret
“affirmative act” in the same way as the district court, though. Elaborating

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                                       No. 22-60603

in the next sentence of the opinion, we examined “whether the nonresident
has purposefully availed himself of the privilege of conducting activities
within the forum state, thus invoking the benefits and protection of its laws.”
Id. Due process requires minimum contacts by the defendant directed at the
forum for specific jurisdiction, id., and Mississippi’s long-arm statute does
not contain any limitation to suggest doing business cannot be considered an
affirmative act by the defendant, Miss. Code Ann. § 13–5–57.
        In summary, specific jurisdiction exists when a defendant purpose-
fully avails itself of the privilege of conducting activities within a forum state,
the plaintiff’s claims arise out of or relate to the defendant’s “minimum con-
tacts,”5 and maintaining the suit would not offend traditional notions of fair
play and substantial justice. Ford Motor Co. v. Mont. Eighth Jud. Dist. Ct., 592
U.S. 351, 358–60 (2021). The Supreme Court rejected that “only a strict
causal relationship between the defendant’s in-state activity and the litigation
will do.” Id. at 362. The Court’s “most common formulation of the rule”
for what is required for specific jurisdiction is “the suit ‘arise out of or relate
to the defendant’s contacts with the forum.’” Id. (emphasis omitted) (quot-
ing Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. v. Super. Ct. of Cal., S.F. Cnty., 582 U.S. 255, 262
(2017)).
        Pace argues the corporate defendants’ conduct here mirrors that in
Ford and subjects these defendants to specific jurisdiction. The Supreme
Court stated that “Ford extensively promoted, sold, and serviced” the type
of products that led to the plaintiffs’ injuries in all states, including the forum.
Id. at 371. Ford argued its sales, advertisements, and services of cars in Mon-
tana and Minnesota did not relate to the plaintiffs’ claims because the specific
        _____________________
        5
         Although specific jurisdiction is a three-part analysis under the “minimum
contacts” test articulated in International Shoe Co. v. Washington, 326 U.S. 310, 316 (1945),
we discuss only the types of contacts and “related-to” disputes raised by the parties.

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injury-causing cars were manufactured and sold in another state. Id. at 361.
The Court concluded there was a sufficient link between the injurious prod-
ucts and Ford’s contacts for specific jurisdiction because “Ford had system-
atically served a market in [the forum states] for the very vehicles that [in-
jured] the plaintiffs,” and this created “a strong relationship among the de-
fendant, the forum, and the litigation.” Id. at 365 (quotation marks omitted).
         Pace contends each corporate defendant conducted activities similar
to Ford’s that were sufficient to establish a related-to connection to Missis-
sippi.
         Pace alleges that Cirrus (1) sells aircraft and products in Mississippi;
(2) directs its business to Mississippi; (3) sold and delivered the aircraft at
issue to a Mississippi entity in Mississippi; (4) operates a global network of
service centers, including in Madison County, Mississippi; (5) provides flight
training for pilots in Mississippi; and (6) the Cirrus aircraft in question was
operated almost entirely in Mississippi. Cirrus provided evidence that there
are no Cirrus flight training facilities, offices, employees, or similar activities
in Mississippi; and the aircraft was designed, manufactured, certified, sold,
and delivered in Minnesota. We agree with Cirrus that Pace failed to connect
the Texas crash either to the “business Cirrus might do in Mississippi” or to
the business it did with the Mississippi residents who sold the aircraft to a
non-party two years prior to the crash.
         As to Continental, Pace alleges it (1) sells its engines in Mississippi;
(2) directs its sales activities to Mississippi; (3) services and maintains at least
878 aircraft engines in Mississippi; (4) profits from sales in Mississippi;
(5) advertises in Mississippi; (6) designed, marketed, sold, and delivered the
aircraft engine at issue to a Mississippi resident in Mississippi; and (7) re-
paired, maintained, and inspected that engine in Mississippi.                  The

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requirement, though, is that Pace’s suit arise out of or relates to a Continental
contact with the forum. Bristol-Myers Squibb, 582 U.S. at 262.
       In Bristol-Meyers Squibb, the Supreme Court described this require-
ment as an “adequate link between the State and the nonresidents’ claims.”
Id. at 264. In our case, Pace is a resident of the relevant state, and the needed
link is between the state and the specific claims against the nonresident de-
fendants. Without this link, specific jurisdiction will be lacking, regardless of
“even regularly occurring sales” or activities within the forum. Id. In Ford,
the plaintiff was injured in the forum states — a key part of the Court’s rela-
tions-to-claims analysis. 592 U.S. at 365. Continental had no pervasive ad-
vertising campaign or significant dealership placement like Ford. The alleged
defective design, manufacture, or assembly of the engine occurred in Ala-
bama, and the engine was sold in Minnesota, creating no de facto presence in
Mississippi sufficient for specific jurisdiction.
       Next is Apteryx. Pace alleges Apteryx (1) directs its aviation services
and products to Mississippi, (2) deliberately attempts to service and repair
Cirrus aircraft with Continental engines in Mississippi, and (3) was the last
servicer of the aircraft at issue. According to Pace, these contacts all suggest
specific jurisdiction is proper under Ford. Due process requires that a plain-
tiff’s injury “evince a connection between” the defendant and the forum
state. Walden v. Fiore, 571 U.S. 277, 290 (2014). Apteryx’s president, like
the director of Cirrus, established that Apteryx does not have offices, em-
ployees, addresses, etc., in Mississippi. Instead, Pace’s claim arose out of
work conducted in Colorado when Martin Aviation delivered and later
picked up the aircraft for required service. Pace’s being a Mississippi-resi-
dent pilot of the aircraft is insufficient to establish specific jurisdiction.
       Finally, as to Amsafe, Pace alleges the company (1) does substantial
business in Mississippi; (2) sells its safety products in Mississippi; (3) sold

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the component parts that were in the aircraft at issue; (4) advertises and pub-
lishes information about its products to not only Mississippi but the country;
(5) has fixed bases of operation in Mississippi for servicing; and (6) its prod-
ucts are found in most aircraft in Mississippi and the country. Amsafe’s re-
sponse is that Mississippi has no connection to the lawsuit. The Amsafe parts
were manufactured in Arizona and sold in Minnesota, and the crash and re-
sulting injuries occurred in Texas.
       Importantly, the Supreme Court held that California lacked specific
jurisdiction over a company even though it engaged in substantial business in
the state yet did not “develop . . . [or] create a marketing strategy for . . . [or]
manufacture” the product or perform other related activities in the forum.
Bristol-Myers Squibb, 582 U.S. at 259. There was no jurisdiction because the
plaintiffs did not claim they had obtained the injurious drug or were injured
by the drug in the state. Id. at 264–65. Similarly, the only evidence (as op-
posed to allegations) here is that Amsafe did not “conduct advertising, solic-
itation, [or] marketing” in Mississippi. Like the Bristol-Myers Squibb plain-
tiffs, Pace’s allegations are not focused on obtaining the products or being
directly injured by them in Mississippi, but on the effects of his Texas injury
felt in Mississippi. When an accident occurs completely outside the state and
has no connection to the state, specific jurisdiction is not present. See Seville
v. Maersk Line, Ltd., 53 F.4th 890, 896 (5th Cir. 2022).
       Specific jurisdiction does not exist over the corporate defendants con-
sidering their uncontroverted affidavits and evidence. While the Supreme
Court does not require a strict causal connection to satisfy the related-to ele-
ment of specific jurisdiction, it “does not mean anything goes” and “incor-
porates real limits.” Ford, 592 U.S. at 362. “[P]roof of causation” has never
been required, but there must be a strong relationship among the defendant,
the forum, and the litigation. Id. at 362, 371.

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       The record here more closely resembles that of Bristol-Myers Squibb
than that of Ford. Yes, the corporate defendants serve the forum, but all their
relevant alleged conduct occurred in other states, Pace’s injury occurred in
Texas, and the only connections to Mississippi related to this litigation are
Pace’s residency and the aircraft’s hangering there. The needed relationship
for specific jurisdiction is lacking. The district court correctly held it lacked
jurisdiction over the defendants.
III.   Jurisdictional discovery
       Pace argues that the district court erred in denying his motion for ju-
risdictional discovery. He contends his motion was specific as to the infor-
mation sought, and the district court abused its discretion by ruling on the
defendants’ motions to dismiss before ruling on his motion for discovery.
The district court, however, has broad discretion in the type and extent of
discovery it permits. Wyatt v. Kaplan, 686 F.2d 276, 283 (5th Cir. 1982).
       A district court’s denial of jurisdictional discovery is reviewed for
abuse of discretion. Monkton Ins. Servs., Ltd. v. Ritter, 768 F.3d 429, 434 (5th
Cir. 2014). The “decision will be reversed only if it is arbitrary or clearly
unreasonable.” Fielding v. Hubert Burda Media, Inc., 415 F.3d 419, 428 (5th
Cir. 2005). The party seeking discovery must establish its necessity, Freeman
v. United States, 556 F.3d 326, 341 (5th Cir. 2009), and does so by making
“clear which specific facts he expects discovery to find,” Johnson v. TheHuff-
ingtonPost.com, Inc., 21 F.4th 314, 326 (5th Cir. 2021) (quotation marks omit-
ted). “If a plaintiff presents factual allegations that suggest with reasonable
particularity the possible existence of the requisite contacts . . . the plaintiff’s
right to conduct jurisdictional discovery should be sustained.” Fielding, 415
F.3d at 429 (quoting Toys “R” Us, Inc. v. Step Two, S.A., 318 F.3d 446, 456
(3d Cir. 2003)).

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       The district court found that Pace never asserted specific facts to sup-
port his allegations of jurisdiction or that the corporate defendants did busi-
ness in the forum. Pace, however, argues his pleadings demonstrated that
specific personal jurisdiction was proper and the additional, needed discov-
ery would “more than likely . . . produce the needed facts to further support”
jurisdiction. His “focused and specific” motion for jurisdictional discovery
sought, among other things, “maintenance and service records and the de-
livery records of the Cirrus Aircraft, its engine, the safety restraint system
installed in the Cirrus Aircraft, including the AmSafe seatbelt and shoulder
harness, the AmSafe inertial reel and airbags, and their component parts.”
       Although these documents could potentially show Mississippi con-
nections if they existed, Pace does no more than “rely on vague assertions
that additional discovery will produce needed, but unspecified facts,” which
is insufficient to allow jurisdictional discovery. Freeman, 556 F.3d at 341–42.
Instead of identifying how these documents would specifically establish the
corporate defendants’ contacts with Mississippi, Pace requested a broad ar-
ray of information related to the corporate defendants’ businesses, with
vague assertions of hope that it would lead to the discovery of unspecified
facts that “would likely” establish personal jurisdiction.
       The district court did not abuse its discretion by denying Pace’s mo-
tion for jurisdictional discovery. Pace was required to present in his jurisdic-
tional discovery request “factual allegations that suggest with reasonable par-
ticularity the possible existence of the requisite contacts” the defendants had
with Mississippi. Fielding, 415 F.3d at 429. There were no specific facts or
reasonable particularity regarding jurisdictional facts presented, thus Pace is
not entitled to jurisdictional discovery.
       Our decision should not be interpreted as implying a view on the mer-
its of Pace’s claims. AFFIRMED.

                                       29