Mermis v. Weeden & Co.

444 P.2d 524, 8 Ariz. App. 166, 1968 Ariz. App. LEXIS 491
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedAugust 20, 1968
Docket1 CA-CIV 575
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 444 P.2d 524 (Mermis v. Weeden & Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mermis v. Weeden & Co., 444 P.2d 524, 8 Ariz. App. 166, 1968 Ariz. App. LEXIS 491 (Ark. Ct. App. 1968).

Opinion

DONOFRIO, Judge.

This is an appeal by Jane Watson Mermis from a summary judgment against her in favor of appellee Weeden & Co., Incorporated, in a suit seeking to establish in Arizona a judgment entered by default against appellant in the Civil Court of the City of New York.

The question to be determined is whether the trial court erred in granting summary judgment. The main issue revolves around whether the New York Court had sufficient jurisdiction over appellant, who was a resident of Arizona, to render judgment against her.

Mrs. Mermis, residing in Tempe, Arizona, was the owner of a stock certificate representing 100 shares of Union Electric Company. She endorsed this certificate in blank and gave it to her husband, William Mermis, Jr. The stock certificate in question was sent to Meade & Co. for sale. On April 23, 1963 Weeden & Co. purchased these shares of Union Electric Company $10 par common stock from Meade & Co. for a gross purchase price of $5,412.50. This sale did not involve the New York Stock Exchange. The sale was made over the telephone between an employee of Weeden & Co. at its office at 25 Broad Street, New York, N. Y., and a representative of Meade & Co. which then had offices at 27 Williams Street, New York, N. Y. During the sale Meade & Co. represented to Weeden & Co. that it was acting as agent for an undisclosed principal in making the sale. It is the custom in the financial community in New York to follow what is known as the “4-Day Delivery Plan”. Under this plan sales are settled on the fourth full business day after the transaction takes place. Accordingly, the fourth full business day after April 23, 1963 was Monday, April 29, 1963. On that day Union Electric split its $10 par common stock on a two-for-one basis; however because Meade & Co. failed to deliver on April 29 as it should have according to the custom, Union Electric sent the 100 shares of the new $5.00 par common stock to Mrs. Mermis who was the owner of record at the time of the split. Meade & Co. delivered the original 100 shares of stock in its possession to Weeden & Co. on May 3, 1963, along with a “due bill” which stated that the additional 100 share “dividend” would be “payable when collected of the Company”. Weeden & Co. accepted the 100 share certificate and the due bill for the additional 100 shares on May 3, 1963 and at the same time made payment of the agreed sales price of $5,412.50 by a certified check.

At about this time Meade & Co. was found to be in violation of the Security & Exchange Commission rules and pursuant to an injunction ceased doing business. It was then put into the hands of a receiver. Weeden & Co. thereafter undertook inquiries to ascertain the whereabouts of the new 100 share certificate issued by Union Electric, and in due course learned that it had been delivered to Mrs. Mermis and was still registered in her name. After Weeden & Co. failed to receive satisfaction in obtaining the shares, a legal action was commenced by it against Meade & Co. and Mrs. Mermis in the Civil Court of the City of New York for the County of New York. Service was had on Mrs. Mermis in Arizona under the New York “long-arm” statute. Mrs. Mermis did not appear and defend against the action and a default judgment was taken against her for the *168 amount of the new stock certificate. This New York judgment forms the basis of this lawsuit.

In the receivership of Meade & Co. in New York there appeared a Proof of Claim document which bears Mrs. Mermis’ signature. This document bears a jurat by a notary to the effect that Mrs. Mermis swore to the truth of the statements contained in the claim. With reference to the stock, the claim stated that Mrs. Mermis “executed certificates in blank and forwarded to Meade & Co., attention of Mr. Plarold Rosenberg”. Although admitting the signature was hers, Mrs. Mermis denies that she ever went before a Notary Public and executed the alleged proof of claim or that she sent it in for collection to the receiver.

The “long-arm” statute under which New York attempted to secure jurisdiction over Mrs. Mermis is Section 302 of the New York Civil Practice Law and Rules, the pertinent part of which provides:

“(A) Acts which are the basis of jurisdiction. A court may exercise personal jursidiction over any non-domiciliary, or his executor or administrator, as to a cause of action arising from any of the acts enumerated in this section, in the same manner as if he were a domiciliary of the state, if in person or through an agent, he:
1. * * * transacts any business within the state; or * * *” Cited as CPLR § 302(a), |[1

In interpreting this law we would be bound by the interpretation given to it by the New York Court. Catchpole v. Narramore, 102 Ariz. 248, 428 P.2d 105 (1967). The above-mentioned statute was to become effective September 1, 1963. The sale of the stock in question occurred the previous April of 1963. The first question, therefore, would be to determine whether the act applies to the instant case. We believe so. The New York Court has held that the statute is procedural and one which merely makes available an additional forum to a plaintiff to enforce whatever substantive right he might have against a defendant, and, as such, may be applied retroactively. William Rand, Inc., v. Joyas De Fantasia, S.A., 41 Misc.2d 838, 246 N.Y.S.2d 778 (1964); Longines-Wittnauer Watch Co. v. Barnes & Reinecke, 15 N.Y.2d 443, 261 N.Y.S.2d 8, 209 N.E.2d 68 (1965).

By the enactment of this “long-arm” statute the New York Legislature expressed an intention to authorize the expansion of the jurisdiction of the New York courts to the limits allowed by International Shoe Co. v. Washington, 326 U.S. 310, 66 S.Ct. 154, 90 L.Ed. 95 (1945) as augmented by McGee v. International Life Insurance Co., 355 U.S. 220, 2 L.Ed.2d 223, 78 S.Ct. 199 (1957); Hanson v. Denckla, 357 U.S. 235, 78 S.Ct. 1228, 2 L.Ed.2d 1283 (1958). These cases established and defined the notion of “minimum contacts” allowing jurisdiction to be maintained over nondomiciliaries doing business within the state. What constitutes minimal contacts must be determined from the fact situation of the individual case. Engelhardt v. Shields & Co., 50 Misc.2d 7, 269 N.Y.S.2d 238 (1966).

In considering whether or not New York has jurisdiction over nondomiciliaries, the courts have been cautious in extending their jurisdiction over the entire field of jurisdiction permitted under modern constitutional doctrines. See A. Millner Co. v. Noudar, L.D.A., 24 A.D.2d 326 at 329, 266 N.Y.S.2d 289 at 294 (1966); McLaughlin, 7B McKinney’s Consolidated Laws of N. Y., 1967 Cumulative Pocket Part, page 81. A landmark case in the construction of CPLR § 302 is Longines-Wittnauer Watch Co. v. Barnes & Reinecke, supra. The opinion consisted of a triology of cases wherein the “long-arm” statute was being questioned by nonresident defendants.

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Bluebook (online)
444 P.2d 524, 8 Ariz. App. 166, 1968 Ariz. App. LEXIS 491, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mermis-v-weeden-co-arizctapp-1968.