Lechoslaw v. Fleet Bank

18 Mass. L. Rptr. 529
Massachusetts Superior Court·Decided December 9, 2004·No. No. 031923A·Published

Opinion

Fecteau, J.

The plaintiff, Szymas Lechoslaw (“Lechoslaw”) filed an eight-count complaint against Fleet Bank (“Fleet”), Citibank N.A. and Bank Handlowy (“the Bank”). The complaint asserts claims of negligence, breach of contract, intentional infliction of emotional distress and violations of G.L.c. 93A. The matter is before the court on the Bank’s motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction pursuant to Mass.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(2). For the following reasons, the Bank’s motion is allowed.

BACKGROUND

Lechoslaw’s claims against the Bank arise from the collection of an Official Check2 in the amount of $31,787.34 that he bought at a Fleet branch in Worcester, Massachusetts in July 2000 and presented to the Bank in Poland for collection in October 2000. At that time, Lechoslaw had mailing addresses in both Worcester and Poznan, Poland. The Bank has its head office in Warsaw, Poland, and maintains twenty-seven branch offices across Poland. It does not have an office in Massachusetts or anywhere else in the United States. At the time this transaction took place, the Bank was doing business as Citibank Poland.

In the summer of 2000, Lechoslaw was in the process of developing a motel and restaurant in Poznan. On July 28, 2000, he purchased an Official Check from a Fleet branch in Worcester, and on October 4, 2000, he presented the check for collection and payment at the Bank’s Poznan office. The Bank then forwarded the check via the Polish mail system to Fleet in New Jersey for collection. Between October 4, 2000 and early December 2000, Lechoslaw visited the Bank’s Poznan branch office frequently to check on the status of the check.

In early December, the Bank contacted the Fleet office in New Jersey to determine the whereabouts of the check. After much communication between the two banks via email, facsimile, and telephone, Fleet informed the Bank that it had no record of the check. The Bank then provided Fleet with a certified and indemnified copy of the check and, on or about February 4, 2000, Fleet paid the amount of the check to Citibank, N.A., which then forwarded payment to the Bank in Poland. The bank credited Lechoslaw’s account the full amount on February 4, 2000. Prior to this, on or about December 1, 2000, the contractor for Lechoslaw’s project terminated the contract due to Lechoslaw’s failure to pay or provide required materials.

DISCUSSION

Lechoslaw argues that he lost profits since he was prevented from constructing the development due to lack of funds resulting from the delay in collecting from the Bank. The initial complaint alleges damages of $31,787.34. In June 2004, Lechoslaw filed an amended complaint. Although the amended complaint does not include a specific sum for damages, a revised 93A letter alleges damages of $890,000. He has initiated this cause of action in Massachusetts and seeks to exert personal jurisdiction over the Bank. The Bank argues that Lechoslaw has not met his burden of proving that it meets either the statutoiy or constitutional requirements for the assertion of personal jurisdiction.

Lechoslaw claims that the Bank has waived personal jurisdiction. He further contends that the Bank transacted business in Massachusetts and personal jurisdiction can be asserted under the Massachusetts long-arm statute, G.L.c. 233A, §3. Lechoslaw also argues that since the Bank was doing business as Citibank Poland at the time of the transaction, it was part of a corporation soliciting business throughout the world, and therefore satisfied the constitutional requirements for the exercise of personal jurisdiction in Massachusetts.

A. WAIVER OF PERSONAL JURISDICTION

Lechoslaw claims that the Bank has waived personal jurisdiction in this court by submission through conduct. This was done, he contends, by making discovery requests (requests for documents and interrogatories), soliciting a confidentiality agreement as required under Polish law, negotiating extensions of time, and preparing and filing an assented to motion with the court. The Bank argues that since it raised the affirmative defense of lack of personal jurisdiction in its answer to the complaint, it has not been waived this defense.

[530]*530Generally, the defense of lack of personal jurisdiction must be raised in the defendant’s initial response, either by motion or by answer, or it is waived. Mass.R.Civ.P. 12(g), (h). Colley v. Benson, Young, & Downs Ins. Agency, 42 Mass.App.Ct. 527, 533 (1997). If, however, a party makes voluntary appearances and contests the case at all stages until judgment is rendered, such conduct gives jurisdiction. Ingersoll v. Ingersoll, 348 Mass. 209, 211 (1964); see also Vangel v. Martin, 45 Mass.App.Ct. 76, 78-79 (1998) (finding that by filing an appearance, opposing numerous requests of temporary orders by the plaintiff, filing a motion for temporary orders, and conducting discovery, the defendant, who had not previously raised the defense of lack of personal jurisdiction, had waived the defense).

In Sarin v. Ochsner, the Massachusetts Appeals Court found that, even if lack of personal jurisdiction was raised in an answer, active participation in the proceedings amounted to a waiver of that defense. 48 Mass.App.Ct. 421, 422-23 (2000). In that case, the defendants appeared twice at hearings on damages following a 1995 default judgment for the plaintiff. Id. at 422. After the hearings, judgment entered for the plaintiff. Id. When one of the defendants who had been considered judgment proof acquired assets three years later, the plaintiff initiated an action to enforce the 1995 judgment. Id. The court found that the defendants had actively participated in the proceedings by appearing for two hearings, filing motions to disqualify counsel, to stay discovery, and to remove the default. Id. at 423. The court found that this participation coupled with the fact that the defense of lack of personal jurisdiction had not been asserted in any motions or brought to the court’s attention before the entry of the 1995 judgment amounted to a waiver of that defense. Id.

The question before this court, therefore, is whether the Bank participated in the proceedings sufficiently to constitute a waiver of lack of personal jurisdiction even though it was raised in the Bank’s answer. Both parties requested discovery. In February 2004 and May 2004 the Bank served two sets of interrogatories and two requests for documents. In March 2004, April 2004, and June 2004 the Bank negotiated three extensions of time to respond to the plaintiffs discovery requests. Lechoslaw served an amended complaint on May 28, 2004, and the Bank served its motion to dismiss on July 14, 2004. Although the Bank did request some discovery, it never participated in any depositions or responded to any discovery requests made by the plaintiff. It appears that the Bank did not participate in the proceedings sufficiently to waive the defense of personal jurisdiction to the same extent as the defendants in Sarin. The Bank did not participate in any hearings, and the only motions it filed were an assented to motion to extend discovery on June 29, 2004, a motion for leave to file a Rule 12 motion late, and the motion to dismiss currently before the court. Therefore, its participation did not rise to the level of participation indicated in Sarin. Furthermore, in both Sarin, and Vangel, the cases had gone to judgment. For these reasons, the Bank has not waived the defense of lack of personal jurisdiction.

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Lechoslaw v. Fleet Bank, 18 Mass. L. Rptr. 529 (Mass. Ct. App. 2004).

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