New Inv. Properties, LLC v. ABC Ins. Co.

972 So. 2d 392, 2007 WL 4305464
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 21, 2007
Docket2007-CA-0943
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 972 So. 2d 392 (New Inv. Properties, LLC v. ABC Ins. Co.) 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
New Inv. Properties, LLC v. ABC Ins. Co., 972 So. 2d 392, 2007 WL 4305464 (La. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

972 So.2d 392 (2007)

NEW INVESTMENT PROPERTIES, LLC
v.
ABC INSURANCE COMPANY, Orleans LeVee District and R P Beckendorf & Associates d/b/a ISU Coast Insurance Agency.

No. 2007-CA-0943.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit.

November 21, 2007.

*393 Robert L. Manard III, Paul E. Mayeaux, Robert L. Manard, PLC, New Orleans, LA, for Plaintiff/Appellant.

Gustave A. Fritchie III, Kelly G. Juneau, Irwin Fritchie Urquhart & Moore LLC, New Orleans, LA, for Defendant/Appellee.

*394 (Court composed of Chief Judge JOAN BERNARD ARMSTRONG, Judge PATRICIA RIVET MURRAY, Judge MAX N. TOBIAS, JR., Judge DAVID S. GORBATY, and Judge ROLAND L. BELSOME).

ROLAND L. BELSOME, Judge.

New Investment Properties, L.L.C. and Creek Apartments Team, L.L.C., appeal the trial court's grant of R.P. Beckendorf & Associates' exception of lack of personal jurisdiction. For the reasons that follow, we reverse and remand.

FACTS

Plaintiffs-Appellants New Investment Properties, L.L.C. ("New Investment") and Creek Apartments Team, L.L.C. ("Creek Apartments") are both Louisiana corporations[1] and owners of Chenault Creek Apartments Phase I and II, located in New Orleans, Louisiana. Appellee R.P. Beckendorf & Associates, d/b/a ISU Coast Insurance Agency ("R.P. Beckendorf"), is a California corporation with its principal place of business in Los Angeles, California. R.P. Beckendorf, an independent insurance agency, obtained flood and wind policies for the apartment complex, which were delivered to Champion Group, Inc. ("Champion Group") also a California corporation with its principal place of business in Los Angeles, California. Stewart Jaffe and Michael Levitt, both residents of California, are managers of the New Investment and Creek Apartments L.L.C.s, and are also managers of Champion Group.

During Hurricane Katrina, the apartment complex incurred damages from the floodwaters. Appellants filed suit on August 24, 2006 against R.P. Beckendorf, ABC Insurance Company, and the Orleans Levee District in Civil District Court in Orleans Parish. With respect to R.P. Beckendorf, Appellants alleged in their petition for damages that R.P. Beckendorf negligently advised them by improperly evaluating Appellants' property and not following federal flood insurance guidelines, which resulted in Appellants' property being significantly underinsured for the flood damages sustained as a result of Hurricane Katrina.[2] R.P. Beckendorf filed *395 an exception for lack of personal jurisdiction, which was granted by the trial court on May 7, 2007. This appeal followed.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

Appellate courts reviewing an exception for lack of personal jurisdiction apply a de novo standard. Anderson v. Interamerican Mfg., Inc., 96-1639 (La.App. 4 Cir. 4/9/97), 693 So.2d 210, 212.

DISCUSSION

In their sole assignment of error, Appellants submit that the trial court erred as a matter of law in granting R.P. Beckendorf's exception for lack of personal jurisdiction. We agree.

Although R.P. Beckendorf is not licensed to do business in Louisiana, has no agent for service of process in Louisiana, has no offices or employees in Louisiana, and has not solicited or advertised for business in Louisiana, we find that R.P. Beckendorf nonetheless could have reasonably anticipated being brought into court in Louisiana as a result of the insurance policy it secured for Appellants' property in Louisiana.

La. R.S. 13:3201[3] permits the State of Louisiana to exercise personal jurisdiction over a nonresident, provided that the exercise of jurisdiction comports with due process. Superior Supply Co. v. Associated Pipe and Supply Co., 515 So.2d 790, 792 (La.1987). Due process requirements are satisfied when the nonresident has "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. Washington, 326 U.S. 310, 316, 66 S.Ct. 154, 158, 90 L.Ed. 95 (1945). The minimum contacts test involves an inquiry into whether a nonresident defendant has "purposefully availed" himself of the privilege of conducting activities in the forum state, "thus invoking the *396 benefits and protections of its laws." J. Wilton Jones v. Touche Ross & Co., 556 So.2d 67 (La.App. 4 Cir.1989)(quoting Hanson v. Denckla, 357 U.S. 235, 78 S.Ct. 1228, 1240, 2 L.Ed.2d 1283 (1958)). A nonresident defendant's contacts with the forum state "must be such that the defendant should have reasonably anticipated being haled into court there." Sparks v. United States Fidelity and Guaranty Co., 93-2498 (La.App. 4 Cir. 2/11/93), 614 So.2d 290, 293, Ford v. Calo, 602 So.2d 787, 789 (La.App. 4 Cir.1992).

R.P. Beckendorf relies heavily on Sparks, supra, in support of its position that the company's connection with the Louisiana property was insufficient to establish minimum contacts. We find R.P. Beckendorf's reliance on Sparks is misplaced in this instance.

Sparks involved a Connecticut corporation, Connecticut Insurance Exchange ("CIE"), whose only contact with Louisiana was to mail a certificate of insurance to Louisiana. CIE was brought in as a third party by United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co. ("USF & G"), the insurer of the New Orleans Convention Center. USF & G alleged that CIE was contractually bound to indemnify them for all amounts that it might be required to pay in connection with a lawsuit filed by a plaintiff who was injured at the Convention Center during a food festival. The plaintiff named as defendants the City of New Orleans (the owner of the Convention Center) and its insurer, USF & G. The plaintiff also named Schwegmann Giant Super Markets, Inc., Robert Donnell Productions, Inc. ("Donnell") and Donnell's insurer, Western World Insurance Company ("Western World").

Donnell, a participant in the food festival, was required to provide a certificate of insurance stating that New Orleans Public Facility Management would be indemnified against claims for injury or loss arising out of acts conducted by Donnell during the festival and naming New Orleans Public Facility Management as an additional insured on Donnell's Western World policy. The certificate was created and then mailed from CIE (in Connecticut) to the Convention Center in Louisiana. This Court reversed the trial court's denial of CIE's exception for lack of personal jurisdiction, noting that CIE was a Connecticut corporation not licensed to do business in Louisiana; that CIE was the producer but not the insurer itself; that CIE did not have offices, employees, or agents in Louisiana; that CIE did not own property or have assets in Louisiana; and that CIE did not send representatives to or advertise or solicit business in Louisiana. This Court found that this single contact with Louisiana did not constitute "minimum contacts" sufficient to exercise personal jurisdiction and that "it would be unreasonable to assume that CIE should have anticipated being haled into court in Louisiana as a result of this act" because "[t]he act of mailing the certificate of insurance to Louisiana does not constitute a purposeful availment of the privileges of conducting business within Louisiana such as to invoke the benefits and protection of Louisiana law." Sparks, 614 So.2d at 294.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Emilius v. Walton
Vermont Superior Court, 2024
Graham v. Crawford
176 So. 3d 1148 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2015)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
972 So. 2d 392, 2007 WL 4305464, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/new-inv-properties-llc-v-abc-ins-co-lactapp-2007.