Court Opinion

ID: 9530209
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 03:58:16.970029+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:28:02.048094
License: Public Domain

CROCKETT, Chief Justice
(concurring with reservation and suggestion.)
Judicial duty requires that I accept the views of the majority as set forth in our recent cases of Burt Drilling, Inc., etc. v. Portadrill, etc., 608 P.2d 244 (Utah 1980), and Mallory Engineering, Inc. v. Ted R. Brown and Assoc., Inc. (Utah No. 15530, filed March 6, 1980), as the law of this state. Under the principles therein expressed, I have no strong disagreement with the proposition that the activities within the state of Utah for which the defendant engaged the plaintiff (and subsequently Long Deming Utah, Inc.) could well be found to constitute sufficient contacts within this state to justify invoking the jurisdiction of our courts.
This supplemental thought is offered: in regard to the earlier attempts, in 1973 and 1974, to obtain service on the defendant, and the motions to quash thereon, which were granted, the trial court made no findings. As to the later hearings, in 1977, before another district judge, it appears that the court based its ruling refusing to take jurisdiction largely on the ground that he thought there had been shown no substantial change from the circumstances of the court’s prior rulings. It is my view that, even though the proceedings in this case have been entirely too protracted already, the proper and orderly procedure, in fairness to both sides, would be to remand this case to give each a full opportunity to present its evidence and contentions and have findings of fact and conclusions made thereon in the light of the recently decided cases above referred to.
I also think it would be appropriate to observe that this Court has given consideration to the defendant’s claim of res judica-ta, based upon the prior rulings, and has resolved that issue against the defendant’s contentions.