Court Opinion

ID: 9771770
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 16:52:59.284968+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:31:36.480355
License: Public Domain

ROBERTSON, Justice,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. The crucial issue here is whether this foreign corporation has enough contacts with the forum to satisfy the requirements of due process. Shaffer v. Heitner, 433 U.S. 186, 204, 97 S.Ct. 2569, 2579, 53 L.Ed.2d 683 (1977). The nonresident corporate defendant must have sufficient minimum contacts with the forum state so that the maintenance of a 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 (1945). If Zac Smith & Co.’s contacts with the State of Texas are insufficient to satisfy due process requirements then the case should be reversed. See Helicopteros Nacionales de Columbia, S.A. v. Hall, 466 U.S. 419-20, 104 S.Ct. 1874-1875 (1984). The “quality and nature” of Smith’s contacts with Texas must be examined and weighed against the “fair and orderly administration of the laws.” Shaffer, 433 U.S. at 204, 97 S.Ct. at 2579. Finally, it must be determined whether Smith could reasonably .anticipate being brought into court in Texas. World-Wide Volkswagen *667Corp. v. Woodson, 444 U.S. 286, 297, 100 S.Ct. 559, 567, 62 L.Ed.2d 490 (1980).
The majority here recognizes that Smith has a single or a few contacts with the forum and has “no physical ties to Texas” but determines nevertheless, that sufficient contacts exist to support the jurisdiction. The majority, however, cannot justify the finding of jurisdiction precisely because Smith’s contacts with the forum are certainly “attenuated.” Burger King Corp. v. Rudzewicz, 471 U.S. 462, 105 S.Ct. 2174, 2186, 85 L.Ed.2d 528 (1985). The due process clause is not being used here as a shield to avoid its obligations but rather as the guaranteed protection against a suit which offends the traditional notions of fair play. Burger King Corp., 105 S.Ct. at 2183. Specifically in this case, the contacts the majority argues are sufficient to gain jurisdiction are solely the result of attenuated contacts. Keeton v. Hustler Magazine, Inc., 465 U.S. 770, 774, 104 S.Ct. 1473, 1478, 79 L.Ed.2d 790 (1984).
The only contact that Smith has with Texas is a proposed joint venture agreement with Advanced Concrete which was specifically conditioned on the satisfactory and sufficient bonding of the project. No bond was ever issued and the joint venture agreement was never consummated. Furthermore, the contract for the elevators, which is the center of this litigation, was solely between Otis Engineering and Advanced Concrete. Smith did not ratify the contract and Smith was not even associated with Advanced Concrete until after the contract was created.
This case is most like the Helicópteros case in terms of the contacts of the nonresident defendant with the forum and should be decided accordingly. I would reverse the judgment of the court of appeals and hold that Zac Smith & Company has insufficient minimum contacts with Texas in order to maintain jurisdiction.
RAY and WALLACE, JJ., join in this dissent.