Court Opinion

ID: 9663856
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 23:53:37.019691+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:14:58.481934
License: Public Domain

D.F. Walsh, J.
(dissenting). I must respectfully dissent.
There are two issues relating to the question whether the State of Michigan can exercise limited jurisdiction over the defendant in this case. First, did defendant’s acts create relationships with Michigan within the meaning of subsections 1, 3, and 5 of Michigan’s long-arm statute? MCL 600.715; MSA 27A.715. This is an issue of statutory construction. Second, would exercise of jurisdiction over defendant be violative of due process? This is an issue of federal constitutional law. See Khalaf v Bankers & Shippers Ins Co, 404 Mich 134, 142; 273 NW2d 811 (1978).
I would not reach the issue of statutory construction because in my judgment, under the circumstances of this case, the exercise of long-arm jurisdiction would not satisfy the requirements of due process.
Before foreign defendants may become subject to the in personam jurisdiction of a forum state, it is essential that the defendants engage in a course of conduct by which they "purposefully avail” themselves of the "privilege of conducting activities within the forum state, thus envoking the benefits and protections of its laws.” Hanson v Denckla, 357 US 235, 253; 78 S Ct 1228; 2 L Ed 2d 1283 (1958). "Purposeful availment” requires "a deliberate undertaking to do or cause an act or thing to be done in Michigan or conduct which can be properly regarded as a prime generating cause of *150the effects resulting in Michigan, something more than a passive availment of Michigan opportunities.” Khalaf v Bankers & Shippers Ins Co, supra at 153-154.
In this case, the defendant was a Massachusetts corporation having its only place of business in New Bedford, Massachusetts. It had no offices, employees, distributors, or agents conducting business in the State of Michigan. It made no sales or business calls in the State of Michigan. Plaintiff neither alleged nor submitted evidence that the defendant ever advertised in the State of Michigan or solicited business in the State of Michigan. The defendant merely filled orders for customers in other states when contacted by those customers by mail or phone.
Although there may have been four or five sales made in Michigan over a two-year period, I am not persuaded that that fact, nor anything else in this record, mandates the conclusion that the defendant "purposefully availed” itself of the privilege of conducting business in this state. The exercise of long-arm jurisdiction over this defendant would, in my judgment, be inconsistent with the Due Process Clause of the United States Constitution.
I would affirm.