Bankmark of Florida, Inc. v. Star Financial Card Services, Inc.

679 N.E.2d 973, 1997 Ind. App. LEXIS 516, 1997 WL 242782
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 13, 1997
Docket27A02-9605-CV-271
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 679 N.E.2d 973 (Bankmark of Florida, Inc. v. Star Financial Card Services, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bankmark of Florida, Inc. v. Star Financial Card Services, Inc., 679 N.E.2d 973, 1997 Ind. App. LEXIS 516, 1997 WL 242782 (Ind. Ct. App. 1997).

Opinion

*975 OPINION

BAKER, Judge.

Today, we address the question of whether a trial court may assert personal jurisdiction over a party based on the party’s failure to comply with a discovery order. Specifically, appellant-defendant Bankmark of Florida, Inc. appeals the trial court’s denial of its motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction and its grant of summary judgment in favor of appellee-plaintiff Star Financial Card Services, Inc. Bankmark presents several issues for our review, which we restate as follows: (1) whether the trial court erred in determining that it had personal jurisdiction over Bankmark; (2) whether Star’s motion for summary judgment was based on inadmissible evidence; and (3) whether a genuine issue of material fact exists which precludes summary judgment.

FACTS

Bankmark is a Delaware corporation which maintains its principal place of business and sole office in Florida. It is engaged in the business of providing administrative services for several companies that sell their merchandise through credit card transactions. Specifically, Bankmark validates the companies’ telephone credit card sales and then electronically forwards the validated sales information to a processing center, where the customer’s credit card is charged and Bank-mark’s account is credited for the sales price of the merchandise.

In October 1993, Gerry Stevenson of H.M.S., Inc., a soliciting organization acting on behalf of Star, an Indiana corporation, contacted Sidney Abusch, an officer of Bank-mark, with regard to Star providing processing services for Bankmark. Shortly thereafter, Bankmark and Star entered into a “Merchant Agreement” whereby Star agreed to process the credit card charge slips submitted by Bankmark and credit Bankmark’s account for the sales price less a processing fee. Under the terms of the agreement, Bankmark warranted that each charge slip submitted to Star represented a bona fide sale of merchandise or services for the amount shown on the credit card slip and agreed to hold Star harmless and indemnify it for any claim or defense interposed by a cardholder. Further, the agreement contained a choice of law provision which provided that the agreement would be construed under Indiana law.

Shortly after Star began processing the credit card slips submitted by Bankmark, cardholders began refusing to pay for their purchases for various reasons. As a result, Star reimbursed the cardholders and sought reimbursement from Bankmark. When Bankmark refused to reimburse Star for the “charge backs” and pay its other fees, Star canceled the agreement and stopped processing Bankmark’s credit card slips.

On December 27, 1994, Star filed suit against Bankmark, 1 alleging breach of contract, unjust enrichment, fraud, civil R.I.C.O. 2 and a civil action for criminal conversion. 3 In response, Bankmark filed a motion to dismiss, claiming that the trial court did not have personal jurisdiction over it. Shortly thereafter, on May 15, 1995, Star filed a request for production of documents in order to obtain information pertaining, in part, to the alleged lack of personal jurisdiction. When Bankmark failed to respond by July 17, 1995, Star filed a motion to compel the production of the documents.

Thereafter, on September 6, 1995, Star filed a motion for summary judgment on the grounds that Bankmark defaulted on its obligations under the Merchant Agreement. The trial court then scheduled a combined hearing on the motion for summary judgment and Bankmark’s motion to dismiss. However, Bankmark’s counsel did not re *976 ceive notice of the hearing and, as a result, failed to attend. The court then contacted counsel for Bankmark via telephone on November 16, 1995, after which it granted Star’s motion to compel and ordered Bank-mark to produce the requested documents within fifteen days. The court also gave each party thirty days to request additional oral argument or file additional briefs and affidavits with regard to Star’s motion for summary judgment and Bankmark’s motion to dismiss.

On December 22, 1995, Star filed a motion for default judgment based upon Bankmark’s failure to respond to its discovery requests and complaint. Thereafter, Bankmark filed a response to the motion for default judgment and requested a hearing on its motion to dismiss. On January 3, 1996, Bankmark informed counsel for Star that the documents it requested were available for inspection.

On February 7, 1996, the trial court entered findings of fact and conclusions of law, denying Bankmark’s motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction as a sanction under Ind.Trial Rule 37(B)(2)(b) for Bank-mark’s failure to produce the requested documents and because the Merchant Agreement between Bankmark and Star provided that it would be construed under Indiana law. The trial court then granted Star’s motion for summary judgment. Additional facts will be supplied as necessary.

DISCUSSION AND DECISION

I. Personal Jurisdiction

Bankmark contends that the trial court erred in denying its motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction. Specifically, Bankmark argues that the trial court did not have the authority under T.R. 37(B)(2)(b) to prohibit it from maintaining its motion to dismiss as a sanction for failing to comply with the trial court’s discovery order. Alternatively, Bankmark argues that even if T.R. 37 permits the dismissal of a claim, the trial court’s imposition of the sanction in the present ease was an abuse of discretion.

Initially, we note our standard of review. Here, the record reveals that the trial court entered special findings of fact and conclusions of law on its own motion. When the trial court has entered findings on its own motion, the specific findings control only as to the issues they cover and the general judgment controls as to the issues upon which the court has not made findings. Ford v. Peoples Trust and Savings Bank, 651 N.E.2d 1193, 1194 (Ind.Ct.App.1995), trans. denied. The specific findings will not be set aside unless they are clearly erroneous and we will affirm the general judgment on any legal theory supported by the evidence. Id. A finding is clearly erroneous when there are no facts or inferences drawn therefrom which support it. In the Matter of M.B., 666 N.E.2d 73, 76 (Ind.Ct.App.1996), trans. denied. A judgment is clearly erroneous when it is not supported by the findings of fact or the conclusions relying on those findings. Estate of Reasor v. Putnam County, 635 N.E.2d 153, 158 (Ind.1994). In reviewing the trial court’s findings, we neither reweigh the evidence nor judge the credibility of the witnesses; rather, we consider only the evidence and reasonable inferences drawn therefrom which support the verdict. Coffin v. Hollar,

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Donna J. Hamilton v. Robert D. Hamilton
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2019
Prime Mortgage USA, Inc. v. Nichols
885 N.E.2d 628 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2008)
Brown v. Katz
868 N.E.2d 1159 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2007)
Starks v. Village Green Apartments
854 N.E.2d 411 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2006)
Legacy Healthcare, Inc. v. Barnes & Thornburg
837 N.E.2d 619 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2005)
Verma v. D.T. Carpentry, LLC
805 N.E.2d 430 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2004)
Kondamuri v. Kondamuri
799 N.E.2d 1153 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2003)
American Standard Insurance Co. of Wisconsin v. Rogers
788 N.E.2d 873 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2003)
Murdock v. Fraternal Order of Eagles
779 N.E.2d 964 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2002)
Deuitch v. Fleming
746 N.E.2d 993 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2001)
Estate of Taylor Ex Rel. Taylor v. Muncie Medical Investors, L.P.
727 N.E.2d 466 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2000)
Hotmix & Bituminous Equipment Inc. v. Hardrock Equipment Corp.
719 N.E.2d 824 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1999)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
679 N.E.2d 973, 1997 Ind. App. LEXIS 516, 1997 WL 242782, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bankmark-of-florida-inc-v-star-financial-card-services-inc-indctapp-1997.