Court Opinion

ID: 9715617
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 06:10:26.609469+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:21:41.551893
License: Public Domain

MASON, Justice
(dissenting).
I dissent since I do not agree with the determination of the majority in division *273II that the trial court would not have been justified in sustaining the alternative ground urged in defendants’ special appearance wherein it is asserted defendants lacked the requisite minimum contacts with Iowa to support Iowa jurisdiction.
None of the defendants were shown to be present within the state of Iowa. The automobile accident which is alleged to have resulted from a defective trailer hitch is the only contact any of them are shown to have had with Iowa. Personal jurisdiction over the defendants was attempted under the provisions of section 617.3, The Code.
As a result of this single contact the majority subjects these nonresident defendants to a judgment in personam based on service under the long-arm statute.
The majority relies heavily on Andersen v. National Presto Industries, 257 Iowa 911, 135 N.W.2d 639. Defendant there had manufactured a coffee maker in Wisconsin and shipped it to a retailer in Iowa for sale. Plaintiff purchased this in Iowa and was injured when using the product. The court enumerated a stream of commerce idea in holding that there were sufficient contacts to satisfy jurisdiction. The facts show that the “stream of commerce” found sufficient to sustain jurisdiction was from the producer to a retailer.
In the present case defendant Miley Trailer Company was a producer, while defendant Handy, Heckel, and Cook were either retailers or servicemen. Thus as to Miley the “stream of commerce” was from producer to retailer to consumer, but all in a state other than Iowa. As to the other defendants, they sold or serviced the product to the plaintiff consumer in a state other than Iowa.
The facts of Edmundson are distinguished from Presto by the lack of movement of the product from the manufacturer to an Iowa retailer. The product did allegedly result in harm in Iowa, however, in both cases. The main concern would seem to be the reasonableness of conferring jurisdiction in the situation.
The starting point for a determination of whether there are sufficient minimum contacts in a given situation to satisfy due process is embodied in the following quote from International Shoe Co. v. State of Washington, 326 U.S. 310, 316-319, 66 S.Ct. 154, 158-160, 90 L.Ed. 95, 102-104:
“ * * * [D]ue process requires only that in order to subject a defendant to a judgment in personam, if he be not present within the territory of the forum, he have certain minimum contacts with it such that the maintenance of the suit does not offend ‘traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice.’
(( * * *
“ * * * Whether due process is satisfied must depend rather upon the quality and nature of the activity in relation to the fair and orderly administration of the laws which it was the purpose of the due process clause to insure. That clause does not contemplate that a state may make binding a judgment in personam against an individual or corporate defendant with which the state has no contacts, ties, or relations. * * * [citing authorities]
“But to the extent that a corporation exercises the privilege of conducting activities within a state, it enjoys the benefits and protection of the laws of that state. The exercise of that privilege may give rise to obligations; and, so far as those obligations arise out of or are connected with the activities within the state, a procedure which requires the corporation to respond to a suit brought to enforce them can, in most instances, hardly be said to be undue.”
*274The following statement appears in Hanson v. Denckla, 357 U.S. 235, 253, 78 S.Ct. 1228, 1239-1240, 2 L.Ed.2d 1283, 1298:
“The unilateral activity of those who claim some relationship with a nonresident defendant cannot satisfy the requirement of contact with the forum State. The application of that rule will vary with the quality and nature of the defendant’s activity, but it is essential in each case that there be some act by which the defendant purposefully avails himself of the privilege of conducting activities within the forum State, thus invoking the benefits and protections of its laws.”
In Rath Packing Co. v. Intercontinental Meat Trad., Inc., 181 N.W.2d 184 (Iowa 1970), an action for breach of contract, Justice Stuart held that the contacts of defendant with Iowa were insufficient to satisfy due process requirements. Defendant’s contacts were: (1) the trip to Iowa by defendant’s president to discuss complaints received by plaintiff (Rath Packing Company) about the products; (2) temporary storage of the pork skins in Iowa at plaintiff’s request and for his benefit; (3) contract provision for shipment of skins F.O.B. Waterloo to other states; and (4) size of order and shipping and car load box contemplated a relationship of considerable duration. The court found the contacts insufficient and thus it would be unreasonable to subject this defendant to jurisdiction of Iowa.
Leaning again on Rath I do not believe the minimum contacts requirements for judicial jurisdiction have been met in this case. I would hold that the maintenance of the suit in Iowa offends traditional notions of fair play and justice. In my opinion it would be unreasonable to subject these defendants to the jurisdiction of the Iowa courts as a result of this single isolated contact referred to in the majority opinion.
MOORE, C. J., and LeGRAND and REES, JJ., join this dissent.