Faigin v. Kelly

919 F. Supp. 526, 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6724, 1996 WL 124494
District Court, D. New Hampshire·Decided March 19, 1996·No. Civil 95-317-SD·Published·Cited by 6 cases

Opinion

ORDER

DEVINE, Senior District Judge.

In this diversity action, plaintiff A.J. Faig-in, a sports agent, asserts that he was defamed by statements contained in an autobiography published by professional football player James E. Kelly and co-authored by Vic Carucci, a sportswriter. Currently before the court is defendants’ motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction, to which plaintiff objects.

Background

Faigin, an attorney currently residing in California, has represented collegiate and professional athletes in contract negotiations with professional sports franchises since 1980. Complaint ¶ 6. While associated with Lustig Pro Sports Enterprises, Inc., Faigin negotiated contracts on behalf of football player James E. Kelly, including, in 1986, a contract with the Buffalo Bills football club. Id. ¶¶ 8-10. Kelly subsequently became a starting quarterback for that club. In 1992, Kelly and Carucci, both residents of New York, published Kelly’s autobiography, Armed and Dangerous. Id. ¶ 15. The book contains the following statements that allegedly defamed Faigin:

“I was in Akron, Ohio, where my agents at the time — Greg Lustig, A.J. Faigin and Weinberger — were based. (I wanted to use another word besides ‘agents’ here, but that’s better left for the lawsuit that is currently pending in Texas. My mother always said if you don’t have anything good to say about somebody, don’t say anything at all.)
I learned my lesson the hard way about whom to trust and whom not to trust in business. I had had complete faith in my first agents, Greg Lustig and AJ. Faigin. Before signing with them out of college, I talked to a bunch of other players they represented and they all said Lustig and Faigin did a good job on their contracts. Even Jack Lambert, the former Steeler great, gave them a strong recommendation.
Then Danny and the Trevino brothers started taking a closer look at my business affairs. And the more they looked, the more they didn’t like what they found.
Finally I saw the light. In 1988,1 fired Lustig and Faigin and put my brother and the Trevinos in charge of all my business dealings. Then I filed a major lawsuit against my former agents as well as the former owners of the Gamblers for defaulting on the payment of my signing bonus.
Fortunately, I was able to catch the problem before it was too late, which made me luckier than a lot of other pro athletes.”

Id. at 15 (emphasis in complaint).

Kelly and Carucci entered an arrangement with Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc., to publish the book. Under the agreement, defendants sold the manuscript to Doubleday in exchange for a cash advance and a percentage of the royalties derived from sale of the book. Declaration of James E. Kelly ¶ 5 (attached to Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss). Doubleday controlled the distribution, marketing, and sale of the book. Id. Doubleday sold at least 36 copies of Armed and Dangerous in the state to approximately seven stores. 1 Agins Affidavit ¶¶ 3, 4. *529 These sales represent 0.13% of the total sales of the book nationwide. Id. ¶ 3. According to plaintiff, Doubleday is “one of the largest national publishing companies in North America,” and the book’s cover is designed to appeal to football fans across the country. Plaintiffs Objection at 13.

Faigin filed the present action on June 23, 1995. 1 laintiff has previously filed an action in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on August 20, 1993, against the present defendants and Doubleday. See Exhibit A, attached to Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss. Plaintiff voluntarily dismissed such action without prejudice on January 25, 1994. See Exhibit B, attached to Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss. Faigin subsequently filed a similar suit in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin on June 10, 1994, but that court dismissed the suit against Kelly and Carucci for lack of personal jurisdiction. See Exhibits C and D, attached to Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss.

Discussion

1. Personal Jurisdiction

When personal jurisdiction is challenged, the plaintiff bears the burden of persuading the court that the defendants’ contacts with the forum staté satisfy both the state’s long-arm statute and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Sawtelle v. Farrell, 70 F.3d 1381, 1387 (1st Cir. 1995) (citing McNutt v. General Motors Acceptance Corp., 298 U.S. 178, 189, 56 S.Ct. 780, 785, 80 L.Ed. 1135 (1936); Dalmau Rodriguez v. Hughes Aircraft Co., 781 F.2d 9, 10 (1st Cir.1986); Ticketmaster-New York, Inc. v. Alioto, 26 F.3d 201, 203 (1st Cir.1994)) (other citations omitted).

To determine whether plaintiff has met such burden, the court may select the prima facie method, which is the preferred approach to eases that do not involve conflicting versions of the facts, or material issues of credibility. Foster-Miller, Inc. v. Babcock & Wilcox Canada, 46 F.3d 138, 145-46 (1st Cir.1995); Boit v. Gar-Tec Prods., Inc., 967 F.2d 671, 675-76 (1st Cir.1992). To make a prima facie showing, the plaintiff must go beyond the pleadings and “adduce evidence of specific facts.” Foster-Miller, supra, 46 F.3d at 145; accord Boit, supra, 967 F.2d at 675. The district court, in turn, should accept plaintiffs properly supported evidence as true, much as it would treat á satisfactorily supported motion for summary judgment as provided by Rule 56(c), Fed.R.Civ.P. Id.; Boit, supra, 967 F.2d at 675. Thus, the court draws “the facts from the pleadings and the parties’ supplementary filings, including affidavits, taking facts affirmatively alleged by plaintiff as true and construing disputed facts in the light most hospitable to plaintiff.” Ticketmaster, supra, 26 F.3d at 203.

Rule 12, Fed.R.Civ.P., provides that the defense of lack of personal jurisdiction “shall be heard and determined before trial on application of any party, unless the court orders that the hearing and determination thereof be deferred until the trial.” Rule 12(d), Fed.R.Civ.P.

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Faigin v. Kelly, 919 F. Supp. 526, 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6724, 1996 WL 124494 (D.N.H. 1996).

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