Commercial Agency v. Loe

667 F. Supp. 359, 5 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 1215, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7715
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Mississippi
DecidedJuly 17, 1987
DocketCiv. A. J86-0661(L)
StatusPublished

This text of 667 F. Supp. 359 (Commercial Agency v. Loe) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commercial Agency v. Loe, 667 F. Supp. 359, 5 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 1215, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7715 (S.D. Miss. 1987).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

TOM S. LEE, District Judge.

This cause is before the court on the motion of defendant Lamar T. Loe for summary judgment pursuant to Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Plaintiff The Commercial Agency (TCA) has timely responded to the motion and the court has considered the memoranda of authorities together with attachments submitted by the parties.

This action was originated by TCA, an Oregon corporation, in the United States District Court for the District of Oregon but was subsequently transferred to the Southern District of Mississippi. Plaintiff *361 in this suit seeks to recover a deficiency judgment from defendant due after plaintiffs repossession and sale of certain collateral pursuant to Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code. In support of his motion for summary judgment, defendant Loe contends that plaintiffs suit is time-barred by the Mississippi one-year statute of limitations applicable to deficiencies on installment notes secured by personal property, Miss. Code Ann. § 15-1-23 (1972). TCA asserts that the applicable limitations period is prescribed by Oregon law, not Mississippi law, and is the six-year statute of limitations set forth at Or.R.Stat. § 12.080 (1983). Alternatively, TCA argues that even assuming Mississippi law is applicable regarding the appropriate limitations period, the general six-year statute of limitations provided in Miss. Code Ann. § 15 — 1— 49 (1972) is applicable rather than section 15-1-23 as urged by defendant.

In a case such as this which has been transferred from a district court in one state to a district court in another state, “the transferee court must first decide which state’s choice of law rules it should apply in determining which state’s statute of limitations should be applied.” Ellis v. Great Southwestern Corp., 646 F.2d 1099, 1107 (5th Cir.1981). Ordinarily, a federal court sitting in diversity must apply the choice of law rules of the state in which it sits “to determine whether the state courts of that state would apply their own state’s statute of limitations or the statute of limitations of some other state.” Id. at 1103 (quoting Baron Tube Co. v. Transport Insurance Co., 365 F.2d 858, 860 (5th Cir.1966) (en banc)). Where a case has been transferred, however, complications arise, and the transferee court must determine whether to apply the choice of law rules of the state in which it sits or of the state in which the transferor court sits. Ellis, 646 F.2d at 1103. This, in turn, often depends on “which party requested the transfer, the reasons behind the transfer, and the statute authorizing the transfer.” Id.

The two general change of venue statutes are 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a)(1976) and 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a)(1976). Section 1404(a) provides for transfer of any civil action by a district court to any other district or division in which the action could have been brought “[f]or the convenience of parties and witnesses, in the interest of justice____” Under section 1406(a), where a case has been filed “laying venue in the wrong division or district,” the district court “shall dismiss, or if it be in the interest of justice, transfer such case to any district or division in which it could have been brought.”

At the time of the transfer of the present action, there was pending before the Oregon court a motion of defendants Lamar T. Loe and Lamar Loe Leasing Company, Inc. 1 to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction. That motion, which was filed on August 13,1986, had not been responded to by TCA when the district court in Oregon, on September 19, 1986, transferred the action sua sponte to the Southern District of Mississippi. The Oregon court did not rule on the motion to dismiss and the order of transfer does not indicate the reason for transfer nor does it reflect whether the transfer was pursuant to section 1404(a) or section 1406(a). 2 Under the facts presented, the issue of whether the Oregon court had personal jurisdiction over defendant is substantially intertwined with the choice of law issue presented. Accordingly, this court must determine whether the transfer- or court, the Oregon court, had in person-am jurisdiction over the defendant. 3

*362 The traditional analysis applied to determine if personal jurisdiction is appropriate involves a two-part inquiry. First, the court must determine whether the Oregon long-arm statute would permit an Oregon court to acquire personal jurisdiction over defendant and, if so, whether the assertion of jurisdiction over defendant offends due process rights guaranteed by the fourteenth amendment. White Stag Mfg. Co. v. Wind Surfing, Inc., 67 Or.App. 459, 679 P.2d 312 (Ct.App.1984). Under the Oregon long-arm statute, Or.R.Civ.P. 4, specific bases for exercising jurisdiction are enumerated in subsections B through K. Subsection L is a catch-all provision which provides that a court having jurisdiction of the subject matter has jurisdiction over a party properly served,

[notwithstanding a failure to satisfy the requirement of sections B. through K. of this rule, in any action where prosecution of the action against a defendant in this state is not inconsistent with the Constitution of this state or the Constitution of the United States.

Thus, subsection L “extend[s] personal jurisdiction to the outer limits of due process under the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution.” State ex rel. Hydraulic Servocontrols v. Dale, 294 Or. 381, 384, 657 P.2d 211 (1982). In the present case, TCA does not assert that any of the specific provisions of the long-arm statute apply. Therefore, the burden is on TCA to allege and prove facts sufficient to establish jurisdiction under subsection L. See Nike, Inc. v. Spencer, 75 Or.App. 362, 707 P.2d 589, 591, 592 (1985).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
667 F. Supp. 359, 5 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 1215, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7715, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commercial-agency-v-loe-mssd-1987.