Court Opinion

ID: 9671937
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 03:45:48.286511+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:16:13.173420
License: Public Domain

DROWOTA, Justice,
dissenting.
I am in agreement with the chancellor and the unanimous opinion of the Court of Appeals who concluded that Robert Allen did not have the requisite minimum contacts with Tennessee so as to confer upon the courts of the state in personam jurisdiction over him.
The majority opinion points out that Allen was employed by Hockert to prepare the warranty deed and the agreement of sale and purchase for the property. These were services to be performed by Allen for Hockert alone, Allen’s Texas client. The other parties to the transaction employed *338separate legal counsel to represent their interests. Allen did nothing more than to enter into an attorney-client relationship in the state of Texas.
In determining whether Allen had sufficient minimum contacts with Tennessee, it is critical that the actions of Allen and Hockert, his Texas client, be analyzed separately. As the United States Supreme Court stated in Rush v. Savchuk, 444 U.S. 320, 332, 100 S.Ct. 571, 579, 62 L.Ed.2d 516, 527 (1980), “the parties’ relationships with each other may be significant in evaluating their ties to the forum. The requirements of International Shoe, however, must be met as to each defendant over whom a state court exercises jurisdiction.” There is no question that minimum contacts exist between Hockert and Tennessee. He came to Tennessee on numerous occasions to look at the property, to inspect the books and records pertaining to the property and to negotiate a purchase price. Hockert initially offered to purchase the property from the Tennessee owner and later became its sales representative or broker. It is obvious that Hockert purposefully availed himself of the privilege of doing business in the forum state and that “the maintenance of the suit does not offend ‘traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice.’ ” International Shoe Co. v. Washington, 326 U.S. 310, 316, 66 S.Ct. 154, 158, 90 L.Ed. 95, 102 (1945). See Southern Machine Co. v. Mohasco Industries, Inc., 401 F.2d 374 (6th Cir.1968).
Third-Party Defendant Allen is in an entirely different position. He never came to Tennessee but transmitted documents to Tennessee at the insistence and on behalf of his Texas client. The services he rendered were performed in Texas for his Texas client. His only contacts with Tennessee were sending the contract and deed to the seller in Knoxville and having telephone conversations with the seller’s attorney in Knoxville. The transaction was closed in Texas. Allen’s role in the transaction was essentially that of legal counsel to the broker. The record fails to show any tortious act or omission between Allen and the third-party Plaintiffs. All the services performed by Allen were performed for his Texas client in Texas, which state is the proper forum as to Allen.
The majority asserts that Allen knew that his legal work would control the sale of several million dollars of Tennessee realty which was being sold by a Tennessee limited partnership. The majority then concludes that “[b]y wilfully and knowingly choosing to prepare legal documents which would be filed in Tennessee and be of great consequence here, Allen purposefully availed himself of the privilege of doing business within this State.” While I would agree with the factual statements, I do not see how the conclusion necessarily follows. In Hanson v. Denckla, 357 U.S. 235, 253, 78 S.Ct. 1228, 1240, 2 L.Ed.2d 1283, 1298 (1958), the United States Supreme Court stated that “it is essential in each case that there be some act by which the defendant purposefully avails itself of the privilege of conducting activities within the forum State, thus invoking the benefits and protections of its laws.” This requirement ensures that a defendant will not be haled into a foreign jurisdiction solely as a result of “random, fortuitous, or attenuated contacts.” World-Wide Volkswagen Corp. v. Woodson, 444 U.S. 286, 299, 100 S.Ct. 559, 568, 62 L.Ed.2d 490, 502 (1980), or of the unilateral activity of another party or a third person, Helicopteros Nacionales de Columbia, S.A. v. Hall, 466 U.S. 408, 104 S.Ct. 1868, 80 L.Ed.2d 404 (1984). The Supreme Court has recently stated that “^jurisdiction is proper ... where the contacts proximately result from actions by the defendant himself that create a ‘substantial connection’ with the forum State.” Burger King Corp. v. Rudzewicz, _ U.S. _, 105 S.Ct. 2174, 2183-2184, 85 L.Ed.2d 528 (1985) (emphasis in original), citing McGee v. International Life Insurance Co., 355 U.S. 220, 78 S.Ct. 199, 2 L.Ed.2d 223 (1957).1 In my opinion the record in *339this case fails to disclose that Defendant himself took actions that created a substantial connection with the forum state nor does the record show that the Defendant invoked the benefits and protections of the laws of Tennessee. As previously stated Allen performed legal services in Texas for a Texas client. His sporadic telephone conversations and letters to Tennessee attorneys and his sending of documents prepared in Texas to Tennessee are insufficient minimum contacts upon which courts of this State may base in personam jurisdiction. Because the Defendant did not “purposefully avail himself of the privilege of doing business” in Tennessee, the other parts of the Mohasco test need not be addressed. The cases are in agreement that if the first requirement is met then the other two naturally follow. See, e.g., Nicholstone Book Bindery, Inc. v. Chelsea House Publishers, 621 S.W.2d 560, 564 (Tenn.1981).
The decisions of the United States Supreme Court discussed previously, beginning with Hanson v. Denckla, supra, can be read “as a stopping place ... on what had been the road toward nationwide in personam jurisdiction for state courts.” Kurland, The Supreme Court, the Due Process Clause and the In Personam Jurisdiction of State Courts — From Pennoyer to Denckla: A Review, 25 U.Chi. L.Rev. 569, 622 (1958). The majority decision in this case goes much farther than this Court has ever gone in conferring in personam jurisdiction. Shelby Mutual Ins. Co. v. Moore, 645 S.W.2d 242 (Tenn.App.1981), cited extensively in the majority opinion, is readily distinguishable. The defendants were Tennessee residents at the time the cause of action arose but moved to Missouri before service of process could be made. They had rented airplanes in Tennessee on several occasions. The Court of Appeals stated that there was “no doubt that the defendants transacted business in this state and that they entered into a contract for services to be rendered and for materials to be furnished in this state and that Tennessee has an interest in resolving this litigation.” 645 S.W.2d at 244. The litigation grew out of a crash of an airplane rented in Tennessee.
In the case at bar, Third-Party Defendant Allen entered into an attorney-client relationship in Texas with a Texas resident. Allen had no financial interest in the sale itself and was paid a fee by Hockert for legal services rendered. Allen did not “purposefully derive benefit” from his above described activities, nor did he purposefully establish “minimum contacts” in Tennessee. For the reasons heretofore stated, I would affirm the judgments of the courts below and dismiss the cause of action against Allen.

. In Burger King, two Michigan residents, Rud-zewicz and MacShara, entered into a franchise agreement with Burger King, a Florida corporation. Among other things, the franchise agree*339ment obligated Rudzewicz personally to payments exceeding $1 million. The defendants communicated directly with the Miami office in forming the contracts. Jurisdiction over these defendants was therefore entirely proper. Query however if the defendants had retained Michigan counsel to finalize the franchise agreement.
I am confident the Court would find jurisdiction over that individual to be improper. The defendants in Burger King more closely resemble third-party Defendant Hockert than they do Allen. Nothing in Burger King compels the result reached in the case at bar.