Zamarron v. Shinko Wire Company, Ltd.

125 S.W.3d 132, 2003 WL 22012618
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJanuary 29, 2004
Docket14-03-00063-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by87 cases

This text of 125 S.W.3d 132 (Zamarron v. Shinko Wire Company, Ltd.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Zamarron v. Shinko Wire Company, Ltd., 125 S.W.3d 132, 2003 WL 22012618 (Tex. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

OPINION

J. HARVEY HUDSON, Justice.

In this interlocutory appeal, Maria C. Zamarron, Individually, as Guardian of the Estate of Juan Francisco Zamarron, an Incapacitated Person, and as next friend for Sonia Janeth Zamarron, a Minor (collectively, “the Zamarrons”), and Anton & Carroll, Inc., doing business as Inland Machine, appeal the trial court’s order granting Shinko Wire Company, Ltd.’s (“Shinko Japan”) special appearance. We affirm.

I. Background

On January 13, 1999, Juan Francisco Zamarron was operating a wire drawing machine, designated as “D-103,” on the premises of American Spring Wire Corp. in Houston. While Zamarron was operating D-103, an upper bracket on an adjacent machine, D-102, broke — flinging a large metal pulley through the air, striking Zamarron in the head and causing permanent injuries.

Showa Machine Works, Ltd. (“Showa”) manufactured wire drawing machine D-102 in 1975, and remodeled it in 1981. Shinko Wire America, Inc. (“Shinko America”), a subsidiary of Shinko Japan, owned the wire manufacturing plant and leased the wire machine from TohLease Corporation. Shinko America filed for dissolution on January 25, 1994, and became SWAI Corp. d/b/a Shinko Wire America, Inc. (“SWAI”). On December 31, 1996, SWAI sold all of its assets to American Spring Wire Corp.

The Zamarrons sued Shinko Japan for strict products liability and negligence, and alleged that Shinko Japan is the alter ego of SWAI and Shinko America. 1 Shinko Japan is a Japanese corporation with its *137 principal place of business in Amagasaki City, Hyogo, Japan. Asserting that it lacks sufficient contacts with Texas, Shinko Japan filed a special appearance, which the trial court granted. 2

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

The plaintiff has the initial burden of pleading sufficient allegations to bring the nonresident defendant within the provisions of the Texas long-arm statute. American Type Culture Collection, Inc. v. Coleman, 83 S.W.3d 801, 806 (Tex.2002), cert. denied, 537 U.S. 1191, 123 S.Ct. 1271, 154 L.Ed.2d 1025 (2003); BMC Software Belgium, N.V. v. Marchand, 83 S.W.3d 789, 793 (Tex.2002). The nonresident defendant then has the burden of negating all bases of personal jurisdiction. National Indus. Sand Ass’n v. Gibson, 897 S.W.2d 769, 772 (Tex.1995). If the plaintiff does not plead jurisdictional allegations, 1.e., that the defendant has committed any act in Texas, the defendant can satisfy its burden by presenting evidence that it is a nonresident. Hotel Partners v. KPMG Peat Marwick, 847 S.W.2d 630, 634 (Tex. App.-Dallas 1993, writ denied).

Whether the court has personal jurisdiction over a nonresident defendant is a question of law, but the proper exercise of such jurisdiction is sometimes preceded by the resolution of underlying factual disputes. Coleman, 83 S.W.3d at 805-06; BMC Software, 83 S.W.3d at 794; C-Loc Retention Sys., Inc. v. Hendrix, 993 S.W.2d 473, 476 (Tex.App.-Houston [14th Dist.] 1999, no pet.). Here, the trial court made no findings of fact and conclusions of law. 3 All questions of fact, therefore, are presumed to be found in support of the judgment. Coleman, 83 S.W.3d at 806; BMC Software, 83 S.W.3d at 795. “When the appellate record includes the reporter’s and the clerk’s records, the implied findings are not conclusive and may be challenged for legal and factual sufficiency. D.H. Blair Inv. Corp. v. Reardon, 97 S.W.3d 269, 273 (Tex.App.-Houston [14th Dist.] 2002, pet. dism’d w.o.j.).

III. Texas Long-ARM Statute

A Texas court may exercise jurisdiction over a nonresident if two conditions are satisfied. First, the Texas long-arm statute must authorize the exercise of jurisdiction. Second, the exercise of jurisdiction must be consistent with federal and state constitutional guarantees of due process. Coleman, 83 S.W.3d at 806; Schlobohm v. Schapiro, 784 S.W.2d 355, 356 (Tex.1990).

The Texas long-arm statute authorizes the exercise of jurisdiction over a nonresident defendant who does business in Texas. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem.Code Ann. § 17.042 (Vernon 1997). While the statute enumerates several specific acts eonstitut- *138 ing “doing business,” it also includes any “other acts that may constitute doing business.” Schlobohm, 784 S.W.2d at 357. 4 The “doing business” requirement permits the statute to reach as far as the federal constitutional requirements of due process will allow. Guardian Royal Exchange As sur., Ltd. v. English China Clays, P.L.C., 815 S.W.2d 223, 226 (Tex.1991).

IV. Due PRocess

Due process consists of two components: (1) whether the nonresident defendant has purposefully established “minimum contacts” with the forum state; and (2) if so, whether the exercise of jurisdiction comports with “fair play and substantial justice.” Id. (citing Burger King Corp. v. Rudzewicz, 471 U.S. 462, 475-76, 105 S.Ct. 2174, 85 L.Ed.2d 528 (1985)).

Under the minimum contacts analysis, we must determine whether the nonresident defendant has purposefully availed itself of the privilege of conducting activities within the forum state, thus invoking the benefits and protections of the state’s laws. Coleman, 83 S.W.3d at 806. A nonresident defendant who has purposefully availed itself of the privileges and benefits of conducting business in the forum state has sufficient contacts with the forum to confer personal jurisdiction on the court. CSR Ltd. v. Link, 925 S.W.2d 591, 594 (Tex.1996). The defendant’s activities, whether they consist of direct acts within Texas or conduct outside Texas, must justify a conclusion that the defendant could reasonably anticipate being called into a Texas court. Coleman, 83 S.W.3d at 806. The purposeful availment requirement insures that the nonresident defendant’s contact must result from its purposeful contact, not the unilateral activity of the plaintiff or a third party. Guardian Royal Exchange, 815 S.W.2d at 227.

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