Ford v. Uniroyal Goodrich Tire Co.

497 S.E.2d 596, 231 Ga. App. 11, 98 Fulton County D. Rep. 826, 1998 Ga. App. LEXIS 245
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedFebruary 18, 1998
DocketA97A2505, A97A2506
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 497 S.E.2d 596 (Ford v. Uniroyal Goodrich Tire Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ford v. Uniroyal Goodrich Tire Co., 497 S.E.2d 596, 231 Ga. App. 11, 98 Fulton County D. Rep. 826, 1998 Ga. App. LEXIS 245 (Ga. Ct. App. 1998).

Opinions

Smith, Judge.

These related appeals mark the return to this Court of two related personal injury actions that arose in 1989 and were originally tried in Fulton County. Previous appeals resulted in remand of both actions for new trial. See Uniroyal Goodrich Tire Co. v. Ford, 218 Ga. App. 248 (461 SE2d 877) (1995) (Ford I), aff’d in part and rev’d in [12]*12part, Ford v. Uniroyal Goodrich Tire Co., 267 Ga. 226 (476 SE2d 565) (1996) (Ford II), on remand, 224 Ga. App. 187 (481 SE2d 6) (1997) (Ford III). The plaintiff-appellants have settled with the sole Fulton County defendant, and this appeal involves a single issue: the appropriate venue for these cases after settlement with and dismissal of that defendant. In each case, the trial court wrote an excellent, thorough, complete, and correct order granting defendant-appellees’ motions to transfer. We adopt the text of the trial court’s orders, in slightly modified form, as our opinion in this case.

These cases arose out of a vehicular collision that occurred on August 26,1989. Appellants Claudia and Franklin Ford were passengers in a van when one of the tires on the vehicle separated and wrapped itself around the rear axle. The van was immobilized, stranding the occupants in the middle of 1-85 where they were then struck in the rear by another vehicle. As a result, Franklin Ford suffered severe and permanent brain damage and Claudia Ford suffered a badly fracturéd leg. Ford I, supra at 249.

The Fords filed suit in Fulton County against International Automotive Corporation d/b/a NTW and Uniroyal Goodrich Tire Company, a Delaware corporation (the UGTC Corporation). Uniroyal Goodrich Tire Company, a New York partnership (the UGTC Partnership), the actual manufacturer of the tire at issue, was not sued. NTW, the tire retailer, was a resident of Fulton County and an alleged joint tortfeasor with the UGTC Corporation.

During the lawsuit, NTW settled with the Fords, denying liability and obtaining broad and general releases. When the Fords did not dismiss NTW, the UGTC Corporation moved to enforce the settlement and have NTW dismissed. UGTC also moved to transfer venue. The trial court denied the motion on the ground that NTW was still a party to the lawsuit because cross-claims between NTW and the UGTC Corporation were still pending. Thereafter, NTW and the UGTC Corporation settled the cross-claims, fully releasing each other and dismissing the claims. The UGTC Corporation and NTW thereupon jointly moved again to enforce the settlements and to have NTW dismissed; the trial court denied the motion. In addition, the trial court, on its own motion, added the UGTC Partnership. Ford I, supra at 251-252 (2).

This Court held that the trial court’s order declining to dismiss NTW and directing that it remain a defendant during the trial was reversible error. Id. at 256-257 (4). We directed that upon remand, NTW’s settlements be enforced and NTW be dismissed from the lawsuit. The only remaining defendants in the case are the UGTC Corporation and the UGTC Partnership, appellees here.

Appellees moved for transfer of the action due to improper venue, contending that venue in Fulton County vanished with the [13]*13dismissal of the only Fulton County resident in the case. The Fords insist that venue in Fulton County is still proper because one of the partners of the UGTC Partnership is subject to suit there. The trial court granted appellees’ motions to transfer, and we affirm.

UGTC Partnership

A partnership’s residency is determined by statute. OCGA § 9-10-90 provides: “[T]he term ‘nonresident’ includes ... a partnership . . . not residing, domiciled, organized, or existing in this state at the time a claim or cause of action under Code Section 9-10-91 arises. . . . The term ‘nonresident’ shall also include ... a partnership . . . [that], at the time a claim or cause of action arises under Code Section 9-10-91, was residing, domiciled, organized, or existing in this state and subsequently becomes a resident, domiciled, organized, or existing outside of this state as of the date of perfection of service of process.”

On the date of the accident, the UGTC Partnership was a New York general partnership. It was not formed or organized in Georgia or under Georgia law. It was not registered to do business in Georgia, it had no office in Georgia, its principal activities were not in Georgia, and it had no registered agent in Georgia. Because the UGTC Partnership is a nonresident, the relevant provisions of the Long Arm Statute, OCGA § 9-10-90 et seq., must be applied to determine venue. Under OCGA § 9-10-93, venue “shall lie in any county wherein a substantial part of the business was transacted, the tortious act, omission, or injury occurred, or the real property is located.”1 In this case, the business was transacted in Alabama, where the tire was manufactured, and the act or omission took place in DeKalb County, where the collision occurred. Therefore, venue over the UGTC Partnership would be proper in DeKalb County.

The Fords contend that venue as to the partnership lies in Fulton County because one of the partners has a Fulton County registered agent and a partnership can be sued wherever one of its partners resides.2 We disagree. The plain language of the Long Arm Statute shows that the status of the defendant partnership, not the status of the individual partners, determines both residency and venue. OCGA §§ 9-10-90; 9-10-93. See Dodd v. Simpson, 191 Ga. App. 369, 370 (381 SE2d 585) (1989) (transfer of case against partnership to Whitfield County improper even though one partner resident of [14]*14that county). The Fords’ reliance on decisions predating the enactment of the Long Arm Statute is misplaced. Equally misplaced is their reliance on Reading Assoc., Ltd. v. Reading Assoc. of Ga., 236 Ga. 906 (225 SE2d 899) (1976), because in that action on a contract the partnership itself had an office in Fulton County and venue was established for a resident partnership under the general venue provisions of Ga. Const. 1983, Art. VI, Sec. II, Par. IV. As to nonresidents, in contrast, venue must be established under the specific venue provisions of the Long Arm Statute, and the Supreme Court applied OCGA § 9-10-93 to establish venue as to a nonresident partner in the county where the business was transacted. Id. at 907.

UGTC Corporation

The UGTC Corporation, on the other hand, is a Georgia resident. Accordingly, venue is determined pursuant to OCGA § 14-2-510 (b).

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Bluebook (online)
497 S.E.2d 596, 231 Ga. App. 11, 98 Fulton County D. Rep. 826, 1998 Ga. App. LEXIS 245, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ford-v-uniroyal-goodrich-tire-co-gactapp-1998.