Capps v. Roll Service, Inc.

787 S.W.2d 694, 31 Ark. App. 48, 1990 Ark. App. LEXIS 257
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arkansas
DecidedApril 18, 1990
DocketCA 89-393
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 787 S.W.2d 694 (Capps v. Roll Service, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Capps v. Roll Service, Inc., 787 S.W.2d 694, 31 Ark. App. 48, 1990 Ark. App. LEXIS 257 (Ark. Ct. App. 1990).

Opinion

James R. Cooper, Judge.

The appellant, Andrew Capps d/b/a Roll Services, Inc., appeals from an order of the Pulaski County Circuit Court dismissing his complaint against the appellee, Roll Service, Inc., a foreign corporation, on the ground that the appellee is not subject to in personam jurisdiction under the Arkansas Long-Arm Statute and the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

In January 1989, the appellant sued the appellee for commissions due from sales of the appellee’s products and services allegedly generated by the appellant while acting as the appellee’s agent. On February 9, 1989, the appellee filed a motion to dismiss for lack of in personam jurisdiction. Attached to that motion was the affidavit of William Scannell, the appellee’s president.

In response to this motion to dismiss, the appellant argued that the court had personal jurisdiction over the appellee under Ark. Code Ann. Section 16-4-101 (1987), which states in part that personal jurisdiction may be had over a person who transacts business in this state or who contracts to supply services or things in this state. The appellant amended his complaint on March 1, 1989 (although this pleading was not filed until March 17, 1989), and on March 8, 1989. In his first amended complaint, the appellant stated:

[The appellant] states that [the appellee] did travel to the State of Arkansas in order to transact business and, in fact, did meet with [the appellant] with persons from International Paper, Potlatch and Georgia Pacific. These meetings were conducted in the State of Arkansas and resulted in the attached offers being made by [the appellee] to those customers of both parties. These meetings took place the first part of May, 1987.
William Scannell is the owner of [the appellee] and is the person who met with the parties’ customers in the State of Arkansas about the beginning of May, 1987.
The attach [sic] proposals did result in contracts between [the appellee] and companies within the State of Arkansas wherein [the appellee] contracted to supply services or items within the State of Arkansas.

On March 15, 1989, the appellee amended its motion to dismiss and stated that “the sales calls alleged by [the appellant] to have taken place in May, 1987, did not result in acceptance of [the appellee]’s proposals to those customers.” In its memorandum in support of its amended motion to dismiss, the appellee argued that, although the appellee did make sales calls with the appellant to International Paper, Potlatch, and Georgia-Pacific within the state of Arkansas in May 1987, proposals sent to these companies following the visits were not accepted and did not result in sales. In that memorandum, the appellee alleged that any contracts which the appellee had with these companies resulted from separate negotiations, by way of telephone and mail, between the customers and the appellee. In another affidavit, William Scannell admitted making sales calls with the appellant in Arkansas but denied that these calls resulted in sales.

In his third amended complaint, the appellant stated:

1. That as a result of calls on customers of both [the appellant] and now, [the appellee], [the appellee] has made sales of goods and services to said customers for which [the appellee] owes [the appellant] a commission.
2. That the customers referred to herein are International Paper, Potlatch and Georgia Pacific; that calls were made upon these customers by [the appellant] and [the appellee] within the State of Arkansas and these calls resulted in the above-mentioned sales.
3. That the parties entered into an agreement wherein [the appellant] was to receive sales commissions on any sales of goods or services received by [the appellee] as a result of contacts with customers in Arkansas and [the appellee] has failed and refused to pay said commission; that [the appellant] is entitled to judgment against [the appellee] for the value of commissions owed by [the appellee].

On March 16, 1989, the circuit court sent a letter opinion to counsel for the parties and stated:

It appears from the facts in this case that [the appellant] made no sales on behalf of [the appellee], either to parties in the state of Arkansas or while he was in the state of Arkansas with [the appellee]. Thus, we have two non residents coming to Arkansas, seeking sales and obtaining none, and leaving the state. [The appellant] then moves into the state of Arkansas and sues [the appellee] in this state based upon the fact that he and a plaintiff’s [sic] representative once travelled through this state seeking sales. This Court does not believe this confers jurisdiction upon this state. If this lawsuit is to be filed, it should be filed in [the appellee’s] home state. We have neither proper jurisdiction nor venue.

An order of dismissal was entered on June 16, 1989, which stated:

2. The contacts which [the appellant] and [the appellee] had with the State of Arkansas are not sufficient to satisfy the jurisdiction requirements of the Arkansas long-arm statute as codified in A.C.A. Sections 16-4-101 et seq.
3. The contacts which [the appellant] and [the appellee] had with the State of Arkansas are not sufficient to satisfy the minimum contacts requirements of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

The appellant argues that the circuit court erred in dismissing the complaint and making a finding of fact that the appellee made no sales in Arkansas as a result of the appellant’s efforts without first hearing evidence on this issue. The appellant argues that, in testing the sufficiency of a complaint on a motion to dismiss, all reasonable inferences should be resolved in favor of the complaint. We agree. In holding that the appellee’s contacts within the state of Arkansas were not sufficient to satisfy the Long-Arm Statute and the Fourteenth Amendment, the circuit judge made a factual finding that the appellee made no sales to three companies in Arkansas as a result of sales calls by the appellant and the appellee within the state of Arkansas. This was error.

In Rabalaias v. Barnett, 284 Ark. 527, 528, 683 S.W.2d 919, 921 (1985), the Arkansas Supreme Court stated that, “in testing the sufficiency of a complaint on a motion to dismiss, all reasonable inferences must be resolved in favor of the complaint.” “In reviewing a trial court’s decision on a motion to dismiss, we treat the facts alleged in the complaint as true and view them in a light most favorable to the plaintiff.” CDI Contrs., Inc. v. Goff Steel Erectors, Inc., 301 Ark. 311, 314, 783 S.W.2d 846, 847 (1990). In CDI Contrs., the Arkansas Supreme Court affirmed the trial court’s dismissal of the complaint for lack of personal jurisdiction because the facts alleged in the complaint did not satisfy the minimum contacts required by due process. We therefore must determine whether the allegations of appellant’s complaint satisfy the minimum contacts requirement.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
787 S.W.2d 694, 31 Ark. App. 48, 1990 Ark. App. LEXIS 257, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/capps-v-roll-service-inc-arkctapp-1990.