Daniel E. Becnel, III Versus Charles Weinreis, as Owner, Eugene Weinreis, as President, and Cheyenne Ridge Outfitters and Lodge, Inc.

CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 12, 2024
Docket23-C-583
StatusUnknown

This text of Daniel E. Becnel, III Versus Charles Weinreis, as Owner, Eugene Weinreis, as President, and Cheyenne Ridge Outfitters and Lodge, Inc. (Daniel E. Becnel, III Versus Charles Weinreis, as Owner, Eugene Weinreis, as President, and Cheyenne Ridge Outfitters and Lodge, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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Daniel E. Becnel, III Versus Charles Weinreis, as Owner, Eugene Weinreis, as President, and Cheyenne Ridge Outfitters and Lodge, Inc., (La. Ct. App. 2024).

Opinion

DANIEL E. BECNEL, III NO. 23-C-583

VERSUS FIFTH CIRCUIT

CHARLES WEINREIS, AS OWNER, EUGENE COURT OF APPEAL WEINREIS, AS PRESIDENT, AND CHEYENNE RIDGE OUTFITTERS AND LODGE, INC. STATE OF LOUISIANA

March 12, 2024

Susan Buchholz Chief Deputy Clerk

IN RE CHEYENNE RIDGE OUTFITTERS AND LODGE, INC., CHARLES WEINREIS, AND EUGENE WEINREIS

APPLYING FOR SUPERVISORY WRIT FROM THE FORTIETH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT, PARISH OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST, STATE OF LOUISIANA, DIRECTED TO THE HONORABLE NGHANA LEWIS, DIVISION "B", NUMBER 78704

Panel composed of Judges Marc E. Johnson, Stephen J. Windhorst, and John J. Molaison, Jr.

WRIT GRANTED; EXCEPTION SUSTAINED; REMANDED WITH INSTRUCTIONS

Relators/Defendants, Charles Weinreis, Eugene Weinreis, and Cheyenne Ridge

Outfitters and Lodge, Inc., seek a review of the trial court’s November 15, 2023 denial

of their declinatory exception of lack of personal jurisdiction in favor of Plaintiff, Daniel

E. Becnel, III. They argue that they are nonresidents who do not have the required

minimum contacts with Louisiana to maintain a lawsuit in this forum. Relators contend

that maintaining Mr. Becnel’s action against them would offend traditional notions of

fair play and substantial justice.

On October 13, 2022, Mr. Becnel filed a petition for breach of contract and

damages against Relators. In the petition, Mr. Becnel asserted that Charles Weinreis is

licensed and doing business as owner of Cheyenne Ridge Outfitters and Lodge, In., in

Minatare, Nebraska; Eugene Weinreis is licensed and doing business as president of

Cheyenne Ridge Outfitters and Lodge, Inc., in Golva, North Dakota; and Cheyenne Ridge Outfitters and Lodge, Inc. (hereinafter referred to as “Cheyenne Ridge”) is

licensed and doing business in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. Mr. Becnel alleged that he entered

into a renewal contract for a hunting trip with Sean Finley, the general manager, for

November 14-17, 2021 at Cheyenne Ridge. He further alleged that Defendants breached

the contract when they failed to have sufficient guides or hunts as advertised, and Mr.

Finley produced a fraudulent invoice with an inflated price and an unauthorized gratuity

amount. In opposition to the petition, Relators filed a declinatory exception of lack of

personal jurisdiction.

Before the hearing on the exception, Mr. Becnel filed an amended petition for

breach of contract. In the amended petition, Mr. Becnel added John Burrell Outfitters

and Sean Finley as defendants. He alleged that Mr. Burrell operated fishing trips in

Louisiana, and he originally booked the initial trip through Mr. Burrell. He asserted that

Mr. Burrell received payments from Relators as its agent for hunters, and Mr. Burrell

failed to ensure that the company he booked had proper hunting guides and/or leases.

Regarding Mr. Finley, Mr. Becnel alleged Mr. Finley failed to sufficiently provide

competent guides for the booked trip and produced a fraudulent receipt. He further

alleged that Mr. Finley worked in Part Eads, Louisiana for John Burrell Outfitters and

solicited customers for John Burrell Outfitters and Relators.

A hearing on the declinatory exception was held on July 26, 2023. No appearance

on behalf of Mr. Becnel was made at the hearing. In a judgment dated August 8, 2023,

the trial court sustained Defendants’ exception of lack of personal jurisdiction and

dismissed Mr. Becnel’s petition against Relators. Mr. Becnel filed a motion for a new

trial, which was granted by the trial court on October 27, 2023. The hearing on the exception was reset for November 8, 2023. Mr. Becnel and

Relators were represented at the hearing. The minute entry states that the exceptions

were introduced into the record by Relators,1 and the matter was taken under advisement.

In its November 15, 2023 “Judgment with Reasons,” the trial court overruled

Relators’ exception. The court found that, taking the alleged facts of the original and

amended petitions as true, sufficient facts were pleaded to demonstrate Relators

“‘purposefully directed [their] activities’ as owners and officers of hunting lodges at

Plaintiff and that this litigation, which involves an alleged breach of contract, arises out

of transactions solicited from Plaintiff by these Defendants, in their capacities as owners

and officers of Cheyenne Ridge Outfitters and Lodge, Inc.” The instant writ application

followed.

La. R.S. 13:3202 reads, in pertinent part:

A. A court may exercise personal jurisdiction over a nonresident, who acts directly or by an agent, as to a cause of action arising from any one of the following activities performed by the nonresident: (1) Transacting any business in this state. *** B. In addition to the provisions of Subsection A, a court of this state may exercise personal jurisdiction over a nonresident on any basis consistent with the constitution of this state and of the Constitution of the United States.

In Kaye v. Karp, 17-397 (La. App. Cir, 12/27/17), 237 So.3d 614, 619-21, writ

denied sub nom, Kate v. Karp, 18-136 (La. 3/9/18), 237 So.3d 1193, this Court explained

the review of a declinatory exception of lack of personal jurisdiction by stating:

When reviewing a trial court’s legal ruling on a declinatory exception of lack of personal jurisdiction, an appellate court applies a de novo standard. Jacobsen v. Asbestos Corp., 12-655 (La. App. 5 Cir. 5/30/13), 119 So.3d 770, 778. However, the trial court’s factual findings underlying the decision are reviewed under the manifest error standard of review. Id.; Winston v. Millaud, 05-0338 (La. App. 4 Cir. 4/12/06), 930 So.2d 144, 149- 50 (noting that “jurisdiction itself is a question of law subject to de novo review.”). Questions of law are reviewed de novo, without deference to the legal conclusions of the trial court. Power v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co., 15-796 (La. App. 5 Cir. 5/26/16), 193 So.3d 471, 473.

1 Relators did not submit a copy of the November 8, 2023 transcript with their writ application. The exercise of personal jurisdiction over a non-resident defendant comports with due process when a two-part test is satisfied: first, the defendant must have had certain “minimum contacts” with the forum state; and second, as a result of those contacts, the maintenance of the suit would not offend traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice. Jacobsen v. Asbestos Corp., 119 So.3d at 779. As this Court stated in that case:

The initial burden of proving sufficient minimal contacts to establish personal jurisdiction rests with the party asserting jurisdiction is proper. de Reyes, 586 So.2d at107; Swoboda v. Hero Decks, 09-1303, p. 2 (La. App. 4 Cir. 3/31/10), 36 So.3d 994, 997 (holding that the party seeking to invoke personal jurisdiction bears the burden of establishing such jurisdiction exists). Once sufficient minimum contacts have been established, a presumption of reasonableness of jurisdiction arises. de Reyes, supra. “The burden then shifts to the opposing party to prove the assertion of jurisdiction would be so unreasonable in light of traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice as to overcome the presumption of reasonableness created by the defendant’s minimum contacts with the forum.” Id.

As to the first test of “minimum contacts”, “[o]pinions in the wake of the pathmarking International Shoe decision have differentiated between general or all-purpose jurisdiction, and specific or case- linked jurisdiction.” Goodyear Dunlop Tires Operations, S.A. v. Brown, 564 U.S. 915, 131 S.Ct.

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International Shoe Co. v. Washington
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Burger King Corp. v. Rudzewicz
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Goodyear Dunlop Tires Operations, S. A. v. Brown
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Ruckstuhl v. Owens Corning Fiberglas Corp.
731 So. 2d 881 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1999)
Winston v. Millaud
930 So. 2d 144 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2006)
Marchand v. Asbestos
52 So. 3d 196 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2010)
Swoboda v. Hero Decks
36 So. 3d 994 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2010)
Jacobsen v. Asbestos Corp.
119 So. 3d 770 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2013)
Power v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Co.
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Kaye v. Karp
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Daniel E. Becnel, III Versus Charles Weinreis, as Owner, Eugene Weinreis, as President, and Cheyenne Ridge Outfitters and Lodge, Inc., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/daniel-e-becnel-iii-versus-charles-weinreis-as-owner-eugene-weinreis-lactapp-2024.