Morrison-Knudsen Co. v. Phœnix Ins. Co. of Hartford

162 F.2d 673, 1947 U.S. App. LEXIS 2157
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedJuly 14, 1947
DocketNo. 13489
StatusPublished

This text of 162 F.2d 673 (Morrison-Knudsen Co. v. Phœnix Ins. Co. of Hartford) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Morrison-Knudsen Co. v. Phœnix Ins. Co. of Hartford, 162 F.2d 673, 1947 U.S. App. LEXIS 2157 (8th Cir. 1947).

Opinion

GARDNER, Circuit Judge.

This appeal is from an order quashing, vacating and setting aside the service of summons and dismissing the action. Appellant, plaintiff below, brought action against appellee to recover on an insurance contract issued by appellee. We shall refer to the parties as they were designated in the trial court. The facts are not in dispute and so far as here material are substantially as follows:

Plaintiff is a Delaware corporation engaged in the general contracting business, authorized to and doing business in the State of Arkansas, with its principal place of business at Little Rock, Arkansas. Defendant is a Connecticut corporation engaged in writing insurance contracts of various kinds in the State of Arkansas and other states, maintaining a place of business in Little Rock, Arkansas. Pursuant to statutory requirements of the State of Arkansas, as a condition to its right to transact business in that state defendant has filed with the Insurance Commissioner a stipulation agreeing that legal process may be served upon the Commissioner or the company’s agent. Through its agent, a citizen and resident of Arkansas, it contracted with plaintiff to insure plaintiff against all loss and damage by flood and certain other perils to a syphon culvert constructed or to be constructed near Altus, in the State of Oklahoma. After the execution of this insurance contract' in the State of Arkansas, and while this syphon culvert was in process of construction, a flood occurred, damaging the structure to the extent of $9,865.34, which amount together with interest, a penalty of 12 per cent, and reasonable attorney fees plaintiff sought to recover in this action.

Service was had on defendant by delivering a copy of the summons and of the complaint to the Insurance Commissioner of the State of Arkansas, the statutory agent designated by defendant as the person upon whom legal process might be served in the State of Arkansas.

Defendant entered a special appearance and moved to quash, vacate and set aside the service of process on the ground that it was “organized and existing under and by virtue of the laws of the State of Connecticut and that the purported service of summons in this action was served or attempted to be served upon Jack McKenzie, Insurance Commissioner of the State of Arkansas, statutory service agent for this movant in the State of Arkansas, and the purported cause of action set forth in the plaintiff’s complaint is an action, if any, arising in Oklahoma and that said Insurance Commissioner is not the service agent for the service of process in matters of this nature.” The court having sustained this motion to quash this service of summons and dismiss the action, this appeal followed.

Plaintiff seeks reversal on the following grounds: (1) the District Court erred in not sustaining jurisdiction of this cause because having sought and obtained the [675]*675privilege of doing business in Arkansas and appointing tile State Insurance Commissioner as its agent for service, appellee “consented” to be sued in both federal and state courts in Arkansas; (2) this cause is not a local action and jurisdiction exists where the defendant may be found; (3) this controversy arose out of a policy issued in Arkansas and a transaction occurring within the district in Arkansas where this suit was brought and therefore jurisdiction exists in the court where filed.

The statutes of Arkansas provide that as a condition to doing business in that state a foreign insurance company shall file with the Insurance Commissioner of the state a stipulation agreeing that “legal process” may be served on the Insurance Commissioner or on the company’s agent. It is admitted that defendant has complied with this requirement and it is admitted that the summons and complaint were accordingly served on the Insurance Commissioner. Rule 4 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, 28 U.S.C.A. following section 723c, provides that service on a foreign corporation shall be had “by delivering a copy of the summons and of the complaint to an officer, a managing or general agent, or to any other agent authorized by appointment or by law to receive service of process * * It is generally held that a foreign corporation, even without the appointment of a resident agent upon whom process may be served, tacitly submits itself to the laws of such state and to the jurisdiction and process of its courts when it voluntarily enters the state and engages in business therein. In the instant case, plaintiff does not rely solely upon the imputed consent resulting from its engaging in business in the state but upon the express consent given by it in appointing an agent to receive service of process as required by statute. It is, however, contended by counsel for defendant that while it is properly amenable to suit in the state or federal courts of Arkansas on causes of action arising in that state, its consent to be sued therein does not extend to all causes of action, and it contends that the cause of action here involved arose in the State of Oklahoma. This reduces the controversy to a very narrow one. Did this cause of action arise outside of the State of Arkansas?

In support of this contention certain Arkansas decisions are cited and relied upon. Among these is the case of Protas v. Modern Inv. Corp., 198 Ark. 300, 128 S.W. 2d 360, 363. In that case action was brought on an original oral contract of fire insurance and judgment was entered for defendants. One of the defendants moved to quash this service of summons. In referring to this issue the court said:

“Tlie Loudon Assurance, without waiving any of its rights, moved to have the summons quashed. We think the motion should have been sustained. The policy sued on, even if we accept appellants’ view's of the transactions, was made in Oklahoma, and was to have been performed there. The defendant could not be brought into an Arkansas court in the maimer attempted.”

That case is clearly distinguishable in its facts from the case at bar. In the instant case the policy was issued in Arkansas.

In National Liberty Ins. Co. v. Trattner, 173 Ark. 480, 292 S.W. 677, 680, also relied upon by defendant action was brought in Arkansas on a fire insurance policy. The property at the time the policy was issued and at the time the loss occurred was in a building in St. Louis, Missouri, and plaintiff was a citizen of St. Louis, Missouri. Summons was served on the Insurance Commissioner for Arkansas, defendant being a foreign corporation. Again in that case no transaction had been had in Arkansas which gave rise to the cause o£ action. The opinion points out that the statute was primarily to secure local jurisdiction in respect to contracts made and business done within the state and that the statute “would seem to require only that such corporations shall be subject to suit for any liability arising from or growing out of contracts made or business done in the state or necessarily incident thereto, and not that they shall be required by service of summons upon said agent to be subjected to suits of nonresidents of the state upon foreign causes of action, transactions, and causes of action arising outside the state and in no wise incident, related to, or connected with contracts made or business [676]*676done in the state.” Again, it is to be noted that in that case the cause of action was in no wise related to or connected with contracts made or business transacted in Arkansas.

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Related

Louisville & Nashville Railroad v. Chatters
279 U.S. 320 (Supreme Court, 1929)
National Liberty Insurance v. Trattner
292 S.W. 677 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1927)
Protas v. Modern Investment Corp.
128 S.W.2d 360 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1939)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
162 F.2d 673, 1947 U.S. App. LEXIS 2157, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/morrison-knudsen-co-v-phnix-ins-co-of-hartford-ca8-1947.