Williams v. Frank Parra Auto Plex, Inc.

929 So. 2d 755, 2006 WL 708215
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 22, 2006
Docket05-737
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 929 So. 2d 755 (Williams v. Frank Parra Auto Plex, Inc.) 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
Williams v. Frank Parra Auto Plex, Inc., 929 So. 2d 755, 2006 WL 708215 (La. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

929 So.2d 755 (2006)

Hayward WILLIAMS, et al.
v.
FRANK PARRA AUTO PLEX, INC., et al.

No. 05-737.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

March 22, 2006.

*756 Walter C. Dumas, NaTashia Carter Benoit, Dumas & Associates Law Corporation, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for Plaintiffs/Appellants, Hayward Williams, Ericka Williams, Jazmine Williams.

Charles A. Schutte, Jr., Robert L. Graves, Guglielmo, Marks, Schutte, Terhoeve & Love, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, George P. Hebbler, Jr., Miranda, Warwick, Milazzo, Giordano, and Hebbler, Metairie, Louisiana, for Defendant/Appellee, Frank Parra Auto Plex, Inc.

Nan M. Landry, Attorney at Law, Lafayette, Louisiana, for Defendant, Salient Designs, Inc.

Larry G. Canada, Doris T. Bobadilla, Candace M. Minerich, Galloway, Johnson, Tompkins, Burr & Smith, New Orleans, Louisiana, for Defendant/Appellee, J.R.'s Custom Auto Service, Inc.

Court composed of JOHN D. SAUNDERS, MICHAEL G. SULLIVAN, and J. DAVID PAINTER, Judges.

SULLIVAN, Judge.

Plaintiffs, Haywood[1] and Ericka Williams, individually and on behalf of the *757 estate of their minor daughter, Jazmine Williams, appeal the dismissal of Defendants, Frank Parra Autoplex, Inc. (Parra) and J.R.'s Custom Auto Service, Inc. (J.R.'s), on exceptions of lack of personal jurisdiction. For the following reasons, we affirm.

Factual and Procedural Background

This litigation stems from a tragic automobile accident that claimed the lives of two of the Williamses' children. On March 9, 2003, Mr. and Mrs. Williams, residents of Plano, Texas, and their three minor daughters were traveling eastbound on U.S. Highway 90 in Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, when a westbound vehicle crossed the median and struck their 1999 Chevrolet Suburban. Their infant daughter, five-month-old Jazmine, was killed after a custom-installed overhead TV/VCP console became dislodged and struck her on the head. According to the police report, another daughter, six-year-old Leah, was also killed in the accident, but her death is not at issue in this suit. The record does not reflect what injuries were sustained by their third daughter, Alanah, who was also a passenger in their vehicle.

On February 27, 2004, the Williamses filed an action for the wrongful death of Jazmine in Lafayette Parish, naming as Defendants Parra, J.R.'s, and Salient Designs, Inc. (Salient).[2] Plaintiffs alleged that Salient manufactured the TV/VCP overhead console and that J.R.'s installed the unit at the request of Parra, the Suburban's original seller.[3] Plaintiffs further alleged that all three defendants maintained their principal places of business in the State of Texas.

Parra and J.R.'s filed exceptions of lack of personal jurisdiction. Salient answered the suit, then filed a motion seeking dismissal on summary judgment. The trial court granted the exceptions filed by Parra and J.R.'s. The record does not yet contain a ruling on Salient's motion for summary judgment.

As shown by the affidavit of Parra's general manager, Thomas Quintana, Parra is an automobile dealership in Irving, Texas, that is not authorized to conduct business in Louisiana. According to Mr. Quintana, Parra does not sell vehicles in Louisiana, and it does not directly or indirectly solicit customers from Louisiana. The Williamses, nonetheless, argue that Parra is amenable to suit in Louisiana because it maintains an Internet "web store" with a sales department that can conduct "live chats" with Louisiana residents. In opposing the exception, the Williamses introduced online correspondence between a Parra employee and an individual claiming to be resident of Shreveport, Louisiana, who was interested in purchasing a vehicle from Parra. That correspondence was initiated by an associate of the Williamses for the purpose of opposing this exception.

James Reeves, the owner of J.R.'s, stated in his affidavit that J.R.'s is not licensed to do business in Louisiana; does not have any offices, stores, or service centers in Louisiana; does not target advertising to Louisiana residents; and does not perform installations for any Louisiana dealerships *758 or clients. In its memorandum in support of its exception, J.R.'s stated that it has engaged in "unrelated, very limited and sporadic wholesale distribution of automobile parts, upon specific request, to an occasional Louisiana dealership." The Williamses further point out that J.R.'s also maintains a website, on which it posts a toll-free number.

Discussion

The Louisiana long-arm statute, La. R.S. 13:3201, provides for the exercise of personal jurisdiction over a nonresident defendant by stating in part:

A. A court may exercise personal jurisdiction over a nonresident, who acts directly or by an agent, as to a cause of action arising from any one of the following activities performed by the nonresident:
. . . .
(4) Causing injury or damage in this state by an offense or quasi offense committed through an act or omission outside of this state if he regularly does or solicits business, or engages in any other persistent course of conduct, or derives revenue from goods used or consumed or services rendered in this state.
. . . .
(8) Manufacturing of a product or component thereof which caused damage or injury in this state, if at the time of placing the product into the stream of commerce, the manufacturer could have foreseen, realized, expected, or anticipated that the product may eventually be found in this state by reason of its nature and the manufacturer's marketing practices.
B. In addition to the provisions of Subsection A, a court of this state may exercise personal jurisdiction over a nonresident on any basis consistent with the constitution of this state and of the Constitution of the United States.

(Emphasis added.)

With the enactment of La.R.S. 13:3201(B), the limits of the Louisiana long-arm statute and of constitutional due process have become coextensive; thus, the sole inquiry into jurisdiction over a nonresident is whether it comports with constitutional due process requirements. Alonso v. Line, 02-2644 (La.5/20/03), 846 So.2d 745, cert. denied, 540 U.S. 967, 124 S.Ct. 434, 157 L.Ed.2d 311 (2003). Nonetheless, the specific contacts listed in La. R.S. 13:3201(A) "now serve as a `valuable list of . . . contacts sufficient to give rise to in personam jurisdiction.'" Alonso, 846 So.2d at 750 (quoting Frank L. Maraist and Harry T. Lemmon, Louisiana Civil Law Treatise, Vol. 1, Civil Procedure, § 2.3, p. 15 (1991)).

In Ruckstuhl v. Owens Corning Fiberglas Corp., 98-1126, pp. 6-7 (La.4/13/99), 731 So.2d 881, 885-86, cert. denied, 528 U.S. 1019, 120 S.Ct. 526, 145 L.Ed.2d 407 (1999), the supreme court summarized the test for constitutional due process as follows:

The due process test first enunciated in International Shoe [Co. v. State of Washington, 326 U.S. 310, 66 S.Ct. 154, 90 L.Ed. 95 (1945)] requires that in order to subject a nonresident defendant to a personal judgment, the defendant must have 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. . . .

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Bluebook (online)
929 So. 2d 755, 2006 WL 708215, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/williams-v-frank-parra-auto-plex-inc-lactapp-2006.