Frederic v. Zodiac Development

839 So. 2d 448, 2002 La.App. 1 Cir. 1178, 2003 La. App. LEXIS 348, 2003 WL 343185
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 14, 2003
Docket2002 CA 1178
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 839 So. 2d 448 (Frederic v. Zodiac Development) 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.

Bluebook
Frederic v. Zodiac Development, 839 So. 2d 448, 2002 La.App. 1 Cir. 1178, 2003 La. App. LEXIS 348, 2003 WL 343185 (La. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

839 So.2d 448 (2003)

Randall FREDERIC
v.
ZODIAC DEVELOPMENT.

No. 2002 CA 1178.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

February 14, 2003.
Rehearing Denied March 24, 2003.

*450 Victor Marcello, Gonzales, Counsel for Plaintiff/Appellee Randall Frederic.

Daniel Atkinson, Baton Rouge, Counsel for Defendants/Appellants Zodiac Development and Mohammed Shamma.

Nan Landry, Lafayette, Counsel for Defendants/Appellants Five Corners CGU Insurance Co., Norman Bacon and James Brooks.

Todd Delcambre, Lafayette, Counsel for Defendant/ Appellee Intervenor—Zurich North Am. Ins.

Before: KUHN, DOWNING, and GAIDRY, JJ.

KUHN, J.

Defendants-appellants, Zodiac Development, a Joint Venture (Zodiac Development), Five Korners, L.L.C. (Five Korners), Norman Bacon, James Brooks, Mohammed M. Shamma, and American Employers Insurance Company,[1] appeal a judgment overruling exceptions raising the objections of lack of personal jurisdiction over nonresident, Shamma, and improper venue. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

PROCEDURAL AND FACTUAL BACKGROUND

According to the allegations of the petition instituting this lawsuit, on October 9, 2000, Randall Frederic, an employee of Capitol City Glass, and his coworker, Jason Austin, were on the job at the Essen Centre, replacing a plate glass panel which, pursuant to the terms of the job, was retrieved out of the building stock. Assisting the Capitol City Glass employees was James Brooks, who worked on behalf of Zodiac Development, the owner of the Essen Centre building. Frederic and Brooks jointly held vertically-stacked panels as Austin attempted to locate a piece of wood to slide out the replacement glass panel from the stack. Brooks received a call on his mobile phone from his supervisor Norman Bacon and stepped to the side to operate the phone, releasing his hold on the stack of glass. As a result, the entire stack, which allegedly weighed about 1800 pounds, fell on Frederic, causing him severe injuries.

Frederic filed a petition for damages in Ascension naming as defendants: Brooks; Brook's supervisor and Essen Centre building manager, Bacon; the Essen Centre building owner, Zodiac Development; and the partners of Zodiac Development: Five Korners, a Louisiana limited liability corporation, and Shamma, an individual who resides in Cincinnati, Ohio. Defendants filed a declinatory exception raising an objection of improper venue. And Shamma filed a declinatory exception of lack of personal jurisdiction.[2] After a *451 hearing, the trial court overruled the exceptions, and defendants appealed.[3]

DISCUSSION

Louisiana's Long-Arm Statute, which is set forth in La. R.S. 13:3201, provides the circumstances under which a Louisiana court may exercise personal jurisdiction over a nonresident. And a cause of action described in La. R.S. 13:3201 may be instituted in the parish where the plaintiff is domiciled. La. R.S. 13:3203.

We initially that note in this appeal, defendants have raised no assertions challenging the applicability of La. C.C.P. art. 73, which permits, among other things, an action for the recovery of damages for an offense or quasi-offense against joint or solidary obligors to be brought in the parish where the plaintiff is domiciled if the parish of plaintiff's domicile would be a parish of proper venue against any defendant under R.S. 13:3203.[4]

In overruling the exception objecting to improper venue raised by all defendants, the trial court applied La. R.S. 13:3203 and C.C.P. art. 73 and concluded that the district court in Ascension Parish had personal jurisdiction over nonresident Shamma under Louisiana's Long-Arm Statute. Thus, on appeal of the judgment overruling their exception objecting to improper venue, defendants initially challenge the trial court's determination on Shamma's *452 exception raising the objection of lack of personal jurisdiction.

Appellate courts conduct a de novo review of the legal issue of personal jurisdiction over a nonresident by a Louisiana court. Spomer v. Aggressor Intern., Inc., XXXX-XXXX, p. 4 (La.App. 1st Cir.9/28/01), 807 So.2d 267, 271, writ denied, 2001-2886 (La.1/25/02), 807 So.2d 250. Under La. R.S. 13:3201, a court of this state may exercise personal jurisdiction over a nonresident on any basis consistent with the Louisiana Constitution and the Constitution of the United States. Therefore, the limits of La. R.S. 13:3201 and the limits of constitutional due process are coextensive, and the sole inquiry into jurisdiction over a nonresident is a one-step analysis of the constitutional due process requirements. A & L Energy, Inc. v. Pegasus Group, XXXX-XXXX, p. 4 (La.6/29/01), 791 So.2d 1266, 1270.

The due process test requires that in order to subject a nonresident defendant to a personal judgment, the defendant must have certain minimum contacts with the forum state such that the maintenance of the suit does not offend traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice. International Shoe Co. v. State of Washington, 326 U.S. 310, 320, 66 S.Ct. 154, 160, 90 L.Ed. 95, 161 A.L.R. 1057 (1945); de Reyes v. Marine Mgmt. and Consulting, 586 So.2d 103, 105 (La.1991). In interpreting the due process clause, the United States Supreme Court has recognized a distinction between two types of personal jurisdiction—"general" and "specific." A state exercises general jurisdiction when the defendant's contacts with the state are not related to the lawsuit. Specific jurisdiction, on the other hand, is exercised when the suit arises out of or is related to the defendant's contacts with the forum. Helicopteros Nacionales de Colombia, S.A. v. Hall, 466 U.S. 408, 414 nn. 8 & 9, 104 S.Ct. 1868, 1872 nn. 8 & 9, 80 L.Ed.2d 404 (1984); Spomer, XXXX-XXXX at p. 5, 807 So.2d at 271. The two-part minimum contacts/fairness analysis applies to the assertion of specific as well as general jurisdiction. de Reyes, 586 So.2d at 109.

When a forum seeks to exercise specific jurisdiction over an out-of-state defendant who has not consented to suit there, the requirement of meaningful minimum contacts is satisfied when the defendant has purposefully directed his activities at residents of the forum and the litigation results from alleged injuries arising out of or related to those activities. Id. at 106. When the cause of action, however, does not arise out of the defendant's purposeful contacts with the forum, due process requires that the defendant be engaged in continuous and systematic contact to support the exercise of general jurisdiction. A & L Energy, Inc., XXXX-XXXX at p. 6, 791 So.2d at 1271. Contacts may be effected by mail and electronic communication, as well as physical presence. Spomer, XXXX-XXXX at p. 5, 807 So.2d at 272.

The second prong of the analysis is the fairness of the assertion of jurisdiction. The defendant's conduct and connection with the forum state must be such that he should reasonably anticipate being haled into court there. Burger King Corp. v. Rudzewicz, 471 U.S. 462, 474, 105 S.Ct. 2174, 2183, 85 L.Ed.2d 528 (1985).

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839 So. 2d 448, 2002 La.App. 1 Cir. 1178, 2003 La. App. LEXIS 348, 2003 WL 343185, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/frederic-v-zodiac-development-lactapp-2003.