Andersen v. Sportmart, Inc.

179 F.R.D. 236, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7728, 1998 WL 263430
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Indiana
DecidedMay 15, 1998
DocketNo. 2:94-CV-136
StatusPublished
Cited by34 cases

This text of 179 F.R.D. 236 (Andersen v. Sportmart, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Indiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Andersen v. Sportmart, Inc., 179 F.R.D. 236, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7728, 1998 WL 263430 (N.D. Ind. 1998).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION AND ORDER

COSBEY, United States Magistrate Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

This matter is before the Court on the May 5, 1998, motion of General Sportcraft (“Sportcraft”), a Third Party Plaintiff, for leave to conduct discovery on the issue of whether personal jurisdiction exists over the Third Party Defendant, Taiwan Daido (“Daido”). Daido filed a response on May 8,1998, and oral argument was heard on the motion on May 12,1998. For the following reasons, Sportcraft’s motion will be GRANTED.

[238]*238II. PROCEDURAL AND FACTUAL BACKGROUND

On July 27, 1992, Amanda Anderson (“Anderson”) was injured in Indiana while using an allegedly defective batting tee purchased in Indiana. This batting tee was originally manufactured in Taiwan by A & 0 Rubber and Plastic Ind. Co. Ltd. (“A & 0”), and distributed and sold in the United States by Sportcraft. Daido is a Taiwan corporation that acts as a regional purchasing agent for companies outside of Asia (such as Sport-craft) which seek to purchase goods manufactured by companies in Asia (such as A & 0). Sportcraft Br. in Supp. exh. G H 5 (“Tsukagoshi aff.”).

Anderson, by and through her parents, filed a tort claim against Sportcraft, which has since been settled. Sportcraft then filed suit against Daido seeking contribution commensurate with its alleged fault in causing Anderson’s injuries. Daido did not answer Sportcraft’s complaint, but filed a motion to dismiss, arguing that this Court does not have personal jurisdiction over Daido. Sportcraft filed the instant motion in an effort to obtain discovery to support its forthcoming response to Daido’s motion to dismiss. The following is a recitation of the facts relevant to the jurisdictional inquiry drawn from the factual record as it now exists.

Daido acknowledges that it “arranged” for the sale of certain products, including batting tees of the type that injured Anderson, from A & 0 to Sportcraft. See id. exh. F at 3 (Daido’s Brief Supporting its Motion to Dismiss). At oral argument Daido clarified this “arrangement,” explaining that Daido acted as a distributor for A & 0 by purchasing and taking title to the batting tees, then reselling them to Sportcraft. See also id. exh. F. at 2. Sportcraft purchased and took title of the batting tees free on board (“F.O.B.”)1 in Taiwan, then shipped the goods to the United States, where it controlled the subsequent marketing and distribution of the batting tees.

The sale of the particular batting tees at issue in this ease was not a one time deal; Sportcraft and Daido had an ongoing contractual relationship for the sale of goods manufactured in Asia. Indeed, for each of the past several years Sportcraft has paid Daido over $750,000 in commission fees, which represents five percent of the approximately $15 million that Sportcraft earned per year from the sales of products it buys from Daido. The record is devoid of any information as to any of Daido’s business dealings with American distributors other than Sportcraft.

III. DISCUSSION

Daido’s position, as explained at oral argument, is that Sportcraft has failed to make even a prima facie showing that personal jurisdiction exists over Daido in Indiana, and thus Sportcraft is not entitled to conduct discovery into the personal jurisdiction issue. Sportcraft’s position is that the present record provides at least a prima facie showing that personal jurisdiction is proper in this Court over Daido. Although the merits of Daido’s motion to dismiss are not properly at issue for purposes of the instant motion, the Court’s analysis necessarily requires us to first understand the Seventh Circuit’s personal jurisdiction jurisprudence in order to properly focus the relevant discovery inquiries.

A. Personal Jurisdiction Principles

A federal district court exercising diversity jurisdiction has personal jurisdiction over a nonresident defendant “only if a court of the state in which it sits would have such jurisdiction.” Wilson v. Humphreys (Cayman) Ltd., 916 F.2d 1239, 1243 (7th Cir. 1990), cert. denied, 499 U.S. 947, 111 S.Ct. 1415, 113 L.Ed.2d 468 (1991) (quoting Turnock v. Cope, 816 F.2d 332, 334 (7th Cir. 1987)). The Wilson court explained that a two-step procedure is traditionally employed when determining whether a state court would have jurisdiction over a nonresident defendant. First, we examine whether the state long-arm statute allows jurisdiction, and second, we determine whether the asser[239]*239tion of jurisdiction complies with constitutional due process standards. Wilson, 916 F.2d at 1243 (citations omitted). It is well established that Indiana’s long-arm statute extends personal jurisdiction to the limit allowed under the Due Process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and therefore we need only consider whether the assertion of jurisdiction over Daido violates due process. See, e.g., NUCOR Corp. v. Aceros Y Maquilas de Occidente, S.A., 28 F.3d 572, 580 (7th Cir.1994) (citing Wilson, 916 F.2d at 1243).

The due process analysis requires that a nonresident defendant have “minimum contacts with [the forum] such 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 (1945) (quoting Milliken v. Meyer, 311 U.S. 457, 463, 61 S.Ct. 339, 343, 85 L.Ed. 278 (1940)).2 Of course, the substance of the “minimum contacts” analysis depends upon whether a plaintiff seeks to assert “general” or “specific” personal jurisdiction over a defendant. See RAR, Inc. v. Turner Diesel, Ltd., 107 F.3d 1272, 1277 (7th Cir. 1997).

1. Specific Jurisdiction

As the Seventh Circuit recently explained: In specific jurisdiction cases, we must decide whether a defendant has “purposefully established minimum contacts within the forum State” and consider whether, by traditional standards, those contacts would make personal jurisdiction reasonable and fair under the circumstances. See Burger King Corp. v. Rudzewicz, 471 U.S. 462, 476-77, 105 S.Ct. 2174, 2184-85, 85 L.Ed.2d 528 (1985). Crucial to the minimum contacts analysis is a showing that the defendant “should reasonably anticipate being haled into court [in the forum State],” id. at 474, 105 S.Ct. at 2183 (quoting World-Wide Volkswagen Corp. v. Woodson, 444 U.S. 286, 297, 100 S.Ct. 559, 567, 62 L.Ed.2d 490 (1980)), because the defendant has “purposefully avail[ed] itself of the privilege of conducting activities” there, Burger King, 471 U.S. at 474-75, 105 S.Ct. at 2183 (quoting Hanson v. Denckla,

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179 F.R.D. 236, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7728, 1998 WL 263430, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/andersen-v-sportmart-inc-innd-1998.