Dillon Boiler Servs., Co. v. Soundview Vt. Holdings, LLC

392 F. Supp. 3d 187
CourtDistrict Court, District of Columbia
DecidedJuly 29, 2019
DocketCIVIL ACTION NO. 4:19-40036-TSH
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 392 F. Supp. 3d 187 (Dillon Boiler Servs., Co. v. Soundview Vt. Holdings, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, District of Columbia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dillon Boiler Servs., Co. v. Soundview Vt. Holdings, LLC, 392 F. Supp. 3d 187 (D.D.C. 2019).

Opinion

Standard of Review

When considering a Rule 12(b)(2) motion without an evidentiary hearing, a district court uses the prima facie standard to evaluate whether it has personal jurisdiction over the defendant. Under this standard, "the inquiry is whether the plaintiff has proffered evidence which, if credited, is sufficient to support findings of all facts essential to personal jurisdiction." Phillips v. Prairie Eye Ctr. , 530 F.3d 22, 26 (1st Cir. 2008). The plaintiff bears the burden of showing that the court may exercise personal jurisdiction over the defendant and "must put forward evidence of specific facts to demonstrate that jurisdiction exists." A Corp. v. All Am. Plumbing , 812 F.3d 54, 58 (1st Cir. 2016) (internal *190quotation marks and citation omitted). Further, courts "take the plaintiff's evidentiary proffers as true and construe them in the light most favorable to the plaintiff's claim." C.W. Downer & Co. v. Bioriginal Food & Sci. Cor. , 771 F.3d 59, 65 (1st Cir. 2014). Finally, courts also "consider uncontradicted facts proffered by the defendant." Id.

Discussion

"In determining whether a non-resident defendant is subject to its jurisdiction, a federal court exercising diversity jurisdiction is the functional equivalent of a state court sitting in the forum state." Sawtelle v. Farrell , 70 F.3d 1381, 1387 (1st Cir. 1995). Thus, in order to establish personal jurisdiction over Soundview, Dillon must satisfy the requirements of both the Massachusetts long-arm statute and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. World-Wide Volkswagen Corp. v. Woodson , 444 U.S. 286, 290, 100 S.Ct. 559, 62 L.Ed.2d 490 (1980).

"[C]ourts should consider the long-arm statute first, before approaching the constitutional question." SCVNGR, Inc. v. Punchh, Inc. , 478 Mass. 324, 330, 85 N.E.3d 50 (2017). Determining first whether the long-arm statute's requirements are met is consistent with the duty to avoid "decid[ing] questions of a constitutional nature unless absolutely necessary to a decision of the case." Burton v. United States , 196 U.S. 283, 295, 25 S.Ct. 243, 49 L.Ed. 482 (1905).

1. Massachusetts Long-Arm Statute

The First Circuit "has sometimes treated the limits of Massachusetts's long-arm statute as coextensive with those of the Due Process Clause." Copia Commc'ns, LLC v. AMResorts, L.P. , 812 F.3d 1, 4 (1st Cir. 2016) (citing Daynard v. Ness, Motley, Loadholt, Richardson & Poole, P.A. , 290 F.3d 42, 52 (1st Cir. 2002) ). Recently, however, it has "suggested that Massachusetts's long-arm statute might impose more restrictive limits on the exercise of personal jurisdiction than does the Constitution." Id. (citing Cossart v. United Excel Corp. , 804 F.3d 13, 20 (2015) ).

Because Soundview does not proffer any arguments why its contacts with the Commonwealth do not satisfy the state's long-arm statute, the Court need not address this potential tension in First Circuit precedent and will proceed directly to the constitutional inquiry. See id. ; Get In Shape Franchise, Inc. v. TFL Fishers, LLC , 167 F. Supp. 3d 173, 191 (D. Mass. 2016) ("[W]here the parties do not challenge the application of Massachusetts's long-arm statute, courts consider 'any argument that the long-arm statute does not reach as far as the Fifth Amendment allows' waived, and 'proceed directly to the constitutional inquiry." (quoting Copia , 812 F.3d at 4 )).

2. Constitutional Due Process

"The exercise of personal jurisdiction may, consistent with due process, be either 'specific or case-linked' or 'general or all-purpose.' " Cossart , 804 F.3d at 20 (quoting Goodyear Dunlop Tires Operations, S.A. v. Brown , 564 U.S. 915, 919, 131 S.Ct. 2846, 180 L.Ed.2d 796 (2011) ).

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

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
392 F. Supp. 3d 187, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dillon-boiler-servs-co-v-soundview-vt-holdings-llc-dcd-2019.