Filemon Garza Gutierrez Ernesto Anzaldua Garcia Nerea Anzaldua De Gomez Arturo Garza Uribe Beatriz Anzaldua De Garza Maria Luisa Cavazos Garza Delta Products Company, S.A. Nocando Mem Holdings, Limited and Javier Vazquez Castro, Individually v. the Cayman Islands Firm of Deloitte & Touche Deloitte & Touche Tohmatsu International Michael Pilling Ian Wright R.E. Douglas G.W. Wigney and Adrian Hammond

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: January 29, 2003
• Docket: 04-01-00637-CV
• Status: Published

Opinion

DISSENTING OPINION on MOTION for REHEARING No. 04-01-00637-CV

Filemon Garza GUTIERREZ,

Appellant

v.

DELOITTE & TOUCHE, et al.,

Appellee

From the 408th Judicial District Court, Bexar County, Texas

Trial Court No. 2000-CI-08976

Honorable Phyllis Speedlin, Judge Presiding

Opinion by: Catherine Stone, Justice

Dissenting opinion by: Paul W. Green, Justice

Sitting: Phil Hardberger, Retired Chief Justice ⁽¹⁾

Catherine Stone, Justice

Paul W. Green, Justice

Delivered and Filed: January 29, 2003

I dissent to the failure of the panel to grant rehearing to correct the panel's erroneous holding that DT-Cayman is subject to the jurisdiction of the Texas courts. Although I previously joined in the panel decision, I am now persuaded I was in error to conclude that DT-Cayman conducted any activities amounting to purposeful contacts in Texas that would subject it to jurisdiction in this State.

DT-Cayman, a Caymanian company, was hired by InverWorld, also a Caymanian company, to serve as its independent accounting and auditing firm. In carrying out that assignment, DT-Cayman was required to engage DT-Texas to do the audit field work in Texas because InverWorld's principal office was located in San Antonio. That DT-Texas performed services for DT-Cayman in Texas is not sufficient to support Texas jurisdiction over DT-Cayman. See Magnolia Gas v. Knight Equip. & Mfg. Corp., 994 S.W.2d 684, 692 (Tex. App.-San Antonio 1998, no pet.), overruled on other grounds by BMC Software Belgium N.V. v. Marchand, 83 S.W.3d 789 (Tex. 2002). Moreover, the record supports the trial court's implied finding that DT-Cayman's contacts with Texas were insufficient to establish the necessary minimum contacts to attach jurisdiction. I would affirm the trial court's order.

Publish

1. Retired Chief Justice Phil Hardberger not participating.