Tuky Air Transport v. Edinburgh Insurance

19 V.I. 238, 1982 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18380
CourtDistrict Court, Virgin Islands
DecidedAugust 27, 1982
DocketCivil No. 81-407
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 19 V.I. 238 (Tuky Air Transport v. Edinburgh Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, Virgin Islands primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Tuky Air Transport v. Edinburgh Insurance, 19 V.I. 238, 1982 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18380 (vid 1982).

Opinion

CHRISTIAN, Chief Judge

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

This case is before the Court on the motion of defendant to dismiss the complaint. Defendant offers the following three alternative grounds for its motion: (1) lack of subject matter jurisdiction, Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(1); (2) lack of in personam jurisdiction, id. 12(b)(2); and (3) inconvenient forum, 5 V.I.C. § 4905. On the basis of the submitted memoranda and affidavit, and for the reasons set forth below, we conclude that the motion to dismiss must be denied.

The complaint in this action sets forth a breach of contract claim by an insured against its insurer. Plaintiff is a corporation organized under the laws of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico with its principal place of business in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Defendant is a corporation organized under the laws of the British Virgin Islands with its principal place of business, in Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands. Defendant is qualified to conduct business in the United States Virgin Islands by virtue of holding a certificate of authority for an “alien” insurer issued by the Commissioner of Insurance in accordance with 22 V.I.C. §§ 206, 207(b) and 208. Defendant also maintains a resident agent in the United States Virgin Islands under the terms of 13 V.I.C. § 401 (“Qualification [of foreign corporations] to do business in the Virgin Islands”).

In consideration of prescribed premiums, the defendant-insurer issued an insurance policy for an aircraft owned by plaintiff.1 The insurance contract was executed in Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands on February 16,1981. By the terms of the policy, the insurer agreed to pay for the loss of, or any damage to the aircraft caused by collision. On March 28, 1981, the insured airplane was damaged at sea and subsequently lost. Whether the situs of the accident was within the territorial limits of the U.S. Virgin Islands is disputed by the parties. Although plaintiff claims to have filed a timely claim for the loss with defendant in accordance with the terms of the policy, it alleges that the defendant has “failed and refused” to honor the claim. It is this alleged failure to comply with terms of the parties’ contract as well as the alleged failure to settle the claim in “good faith” which forms the basis of this action for damages.

[242]*242The arguments advanced by defendant will be discussed seriatim, as follows.

A) Subject Matter Jurisdiction

Defendant contends that the present cause of action between the two nonresidents did not arise within the U.S. Virgin Islands, and that the courts of this territory are therefore without authority to adjudicate the matter. However, the general rule is that a cause of action which seeks recovery of damages based upon an alleged breach of contract is transitory in nature and “may therefore be adjudicated by any court which has jurisdiction in personam of the defendant, irrespective of where the contract was concluded, and irrespective of where it is to be performed.” 20 Am.Jur.2d, Courts § 126 (1965). This is true even if neither party is a resident of the forum jurisdiction. See e.g. James H. Rhodes and Co. v. Chausovsky, 60 A.2d 623 (N.J. 1948).

As the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has recently explained:

. . . the relationship of the forum to the cause of action . . . may be relevant to questions of personal jurisdiction, choice of law and forum non conveniens, but is not relevant to the issue of subject matter jurisdiction. ... As a court of general original jurisdiction the subject matter jurisdiction of the District Court [of the Virgin Islands] is limited only by the terms of the Revised Organic Act.

Carty v. Beech Aircraft Corp., 679 F.2d 1051 at 1058 (3rd Cir. 1982). Because this transitory action does not fall within the subject matter exceptions contained in the Revised Organic Act, Rule 12(b)(1) provides no basis upon which the complaint may be dismissed if this Court may properly exercise personal jurisdiction over the defendant.

B) In Personam Jurisdiction

It is the contention of defendant that plaintiff has failed to satisfy any of the requirements set forth in the Virgin Islands long arm statute, 5 V.I.C. § 4903, and that this Court therefore lacks the authority to exercise personal jurisdiction. Because defendant is not organized under the laws of and does not maintain its principal place of business in the U.S. Virgin Islands, personal jurisdiction cannot be based upon 5 V.I.C. § 4902 (“Personal jurisdiction based upon enduring relationship”). And yet the Virgin Islands long arm statute (“Personal jurisdiction based upon conduct”) would not [243]*243appear to be even implicated where, as in this case, the nonresident defendant is licensed to do business in and maintains a resident agent in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The question therefore presented is whether in the absence of an applicable jurisdictional statute, a nonresident corporation qualifying to do business in the Virgin Islands may, as a matter of procedural due process, be subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of this territory even with respect to a cause of action not arising out of its transactions in the forum and even when the plaintiff is a nonresident of the forum.

Defendant maintains a resident agent in the U.S. Virgin Islands by virtue of two separate statutes: 13 V.I.C. § 401 which sets forth the qualifications and requirements for any type of foreign corporation to do business in the Virgin Islands, and 22 V.I.C. §§ 206-208 which set forth the requirements for an “alien” insurer to transact insurance business in the territory. Section 401(a) of Title 13 requires, inter alia, that a foreign corporation doing business in the U.S. Virgin Islands file with the Office of the Lieutenant Governor a certificate “stating the name of its authorized agent in the Virgin Islands upon whom service of legal process against it may be made.

...” Under the terms of the Insurance Code (Title 22) all insurers, in order to obtain a certificate of authority from the Commissioner of Insurance, must file “an appointment of the Commissioner as its attorney to receive service of legal process.” 22 V.I.C. § 206(2)(d). An “alien” insurer — “one formed under the laws of a nation other than the United States,” 22 V.I.C. § 201(3) — must, in addition, post a bond with the Commissioner on “condition that the surety ... on the bond shall be answerable to the amount of the bond for all judgments .. . rendered against the principal on the bond by any court of the Virgin Islands for the payment of money.” 22 V.I.C. § 208(a).

It has been a long established proposition, free from Constitutional doubt, that a state or territory may exercise judicial authority over an individual who is physically present within its borders and who by virtue of statutory requirements may be deemed to have consented to that authority. See e.g., Restatement (Second) of Conflict of Laws § 28 (1971). With respect to agents of a nonresident corporate defendant present within the forum, the Supreme Court has held as follows:

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

Related

Kressen v. Federal Insurance
122 F. Supp. 2d 582 (Virgin Islands, 2000)
Davis v. Vieques Air Link, Inc.
22 V.I. 292 (Virgin Islands, 1986)
Government of the Virgin Islands v. O'Brien
21 V.I. 549 (Supreme Court of The Virgin Islands, 1985)
Dickson v. Hertz Corp.
559 F. Supp. 1169 (Virgin Islands, 1983)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
19 V.I. 238, 1982 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18380, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tuky-air-transport-v-edinburgh-insurance-vid-1982.