FREDERICKA HOMBERG WICKER, Judge.
John S. Jacobsen Jr., plaintiff, appeals the trial court's grant of an exception of lack of personal jurisdiction in favor of Norca Corporation, a defendant in this matter. Mr. Jacobsen argues that the trial court erred in granting this exception as the trial court gained personal jurisdiction over Norca because of its brokering sales of asbestos, the product alleged to have caused the damages in this case, and then shipping that asbestos to a plant in Louisiana. For the following reasons we find Mr. Jacobsen's argument to be without merit and therefore affirm the trial court's judgment.
Mr. Jacobsen filed his original petition for damages in this litigation on May 26, 2010, against Norca and other defendants.
Norca filed exceptions, including its exception of lack of personal jurisdiction at issue here, and an answer to Mr. Jacobsen's petition against it on August 9, 2010. Thereafter, the trial court gave Mr. Jacobsen leave to file different separate supplemental and amended petitions. On May 2, 2012, Norca moved to set a hearing of its exception of lack of personal jurisdiction, and in the alternative for motion for summary judgment against Mr. Jacobsen.
In response, on May 21, 2012, Mr. Jacobsen filed his "Opposition To Exception of Lack of Jurisdiction Over The Person And Motion For Summary Judgment Filed By Defendant Norca Corporation." The record reflects that Mr. Jacobsen's "exhibits" were attachments to this filing.
On May 29, 2012, the trial court heard Norca's exception of lack of personal jurisdiction. The record shows that both Mr. Jacobsen and Norca argued various points of law and referenced the attachments to their filings, but that neither party introduced any evidence into the record. During this hearing, Norca objected to the court's consideration of the various Jacobsen attachments. The trial court did not rule on this objection.
At the conclusion of this hearing, the trial court judge stated, "I'm going to grant [the] exception." After the trial court reached this conclusion, it did not hear Norca's motion for summary judgment. Although no written judgment was issued that day, and the trial court's statement on the transcript is not definitive, a minute entry from that day reflects that the trial court granted Norca's exception of lack of personal jurisdiction.
After the trial court granted Mr. Jacobsen's appeal however, it entered a written judgment sustaining Norca's exception of lack of personal jurisdiction. The trial court signed and mailed this written judgment on June 15, 2012.
In this appeal, Mr. Jacobsen argues that the trial court erred in granting Norca's exception of lack of personal jurisdiction. Mr. Jacobsen contends that Norca did in fact have sufficient minimum contacts with Louisiana for the trial court to constitutionally exert in personam jurisdiction over it. Before we address the merits of Mr. Jacobsen's assignment however, we must determine the preliminary matters of whether this matter is properly before this Court, and whether the record before us sufficiently allows us to reach the merits of the question.
Before addressing the merits of Mr. Jacobsen's appeal, we must determine whether this appeal is properly before this Court, and whether the trial court erred in its judgment when it heard arguments on the exception, where the parties referenced the attachments to their memoranda, but where the parties introduced no evidence.
As to the first matter, when a trial judge has failed to produce a written and signed final judgment, no appeal from that judgment may be taken. La. C.C.P. art.1911; State v. Beaudoin, 06-88 (La. App. 5 Cir. 6/29/06), 939 So.2d 428, 428-29. A minute entry and an oral judgment, that has not been reduced to writing and signed by the trial judge, are insufficient to divest the trial court of jurisdiction and grant jurisdiction to the appellate court. Beaudoin, supra, (citing La. C.C.P. art. 2088). Furthermore, even a written and signed document will not constitute a final judgment if that document indicates that, in the future, a "[j]udgment will be signed." Spector v. Union City Transfer, 182 So. 524 (La.App. 1 Cir.1938). However, "an appeal granted before the signing of a final judgment is subject to dismissal [only] until the final judgment is signed." Overmier v. Traylor, 475 So.2d 1094 (La.1985). "[O]nce the final judgment has been signed, any previously existing defect has been cured, and there is no useful purpose in dismissing the otherwise valid appeal." Id.
Here, the May 29, 2012 trial court's oral statement that a judgment would be granted, and the minute entry from that date, failed to constitute a final judgment from which the parties could appeal. Because however the trial court corrected its error by signing a written judgment in this matter on June 15, 2012, we will not dismiss this appeal.
We next turn to whether the trial court erred in rendering its judgment in this matter based upon the documents attached by each party to their memoranda but not introduced into evidence. Further, at hearing on the exception, counsel for Norca objected to the court's consideration of the documents attached to Mr. Jacobsen's opposition, stating:
The record reflects that the trial court never ruled on this objection. The record also reflects that no evidence was admitted at this hearing. When a trial court fails to rule on an objection before it, that objection is considered overruled. Hutchison v. Seariver Mar., Inc., 09-410 (La. App. 1 Cir. 9/11/2009), 22 So.3d 989, writ denied, 09-2216 (La.12/18/09), 23 So.3d 946. Therefore, by objecting to the trial court's consideration of Mr. Jacobsen's attachments, Norca preserved for appeal this issue of whether the trial court's consideration of Mr. Jacobsen's attachments was proper. However, Norca did not answer the appeal or assign as error the efficacy of the evidence relied upon by appellant in its opposition to the exception. Therefore, this issue is not before us. Uniform Rules Courts of Appeal, Rule 1-3.
What is still left to be determined however is the question of whether the argument before the trial court on this exception constituted a "hearing" and whether the affidavit relied upon by Norca, as well as the documents attached to Mr. Jacobsen's opposition, are properly before this Court for consideration, when they were not introduced into evidence in the trial court.
In this case, the parties each attached documents to their pleadings on the exception of lack of personal jurisdiction, made oral argument based upon those documents to the court, but did not introduce those documents into evidence during oral argument. At the conclusion of oral argument the trial court granted the exception of lack of personal jurisdiction from the bench without oral or written reasons. In de Reyes v. Marine Management and Consulting, Ltd, et al., 90-2214 (La.9/9/91), 586 So.2d 103, 109, the Louisiana Supreme Court set forth two methods of proof relative to exceptions of lack of personal jurisdiction — either with or without a contradictory hearing. If the trial court holds a contradictory hearing before it decides an exception of lack of personal jurisdiction, the plaintiff's burden is "to prove facts in support of [his] showing that jurisdiction was proper by a preponderance of the evidence."
If on the other hand, a trial court does not hold such a contradictory hearing, the court will decide the matter on a record comprised of "pleadings, memoranda, and discovery depositions taken" in the matter. Id. at 109. When a contradictory hearing is not held, the burden of the non-moving party, typically the plaintiff, is "relatively slight" and the "allegations of the complaint and all reasonable inferences from the record are to be drawn in favor of the non-moving party." Id.
In May 2008, the Louisiana Supreme Court in Denoux v. Vessel Management Services, Inc., 07-2143 (La.5/21/08), 983 So.2d 84, issued a ruling potentially in conflict with de Reyes. In Denoux, the matter before the court was a peremptory exception of prescription. In that case the plaintiffs' petition made a claim "solely on Louisiana law" for damages and stated facts that they alleged supported their claim. Id. at 86. In response, a defendant filed its prescription exception. Id. The facts that the plaintiffs' petition alleged stated claims that were "clearly prescribed" under Louisiana law on the face of their petition. Id. at 88. The plaintiffs however opposed the exception with a legal argument that the facts they alleged made a claim under federal maritime law that was not prescribed. Id. at 87. While the plaintiffs relied on certain depositions in making their argument, the plaintiffs never formally introduced these depositions, or anything else, into evidence. Id. at 88.
The Court found that, because their Louisiana law claims were clearly prescribed on the face of their petition, the plaintiffs bore the burden of defeating the exception of prescription. Id. at 88. The court ruled that:
Id. at 88-89 (internal citations omitted).
The question is whether Denoux applies to the case at bar. While Denoux ruled on the proof required on a peremptory exception of prescription, the case before us concerns the proof required on the declinatory exception of lack of personal jurisdiction. See respectively, La. C.C.P. arts. 927 and 925.
With regard to evidence on trials of these types of exceptions, the Code of Civil Procedure provides similar modes of proof for each. With regard to declinatory exceptions, La. C.C.P. art. 930 states that "[o]n the trial of the declinatory exception, evidence may be introduced to support or controvert any of the objections pleaded, when the grounds thereof do not appear from the petition, the citation, or return thereon." With regard to evidence on the trials of peremptory exceptions, such as prescription, La. C.C.P. art. 931 likewise says:
It is clear since Denoux, with regard to peremptory exceptions, the evidence must be introduced in order for the court to consider it. It is unclear from Denoux however whether the Louisiana Supreme Court intended to change its de Reyes jurisprudential statement that did not require the burdened party to introduce evidence if the trial court both did not conduct a contradictory hearing and could not determine the merits of the exception from the face of the petition.
However, since Denoux, this Court and others have continued to apply the method of proof announced in de Reyes to exceptions of lack of personal jurisdiction. See Ruppert v. George Kellett & Sons, Inc., 08-182 (La.App. 5 Cir. 9/30/08), 996 So.2d 501 (affirming a grant of exception of lack of personal jurisdiction after considering an attached affidavit, when no evidence was admitted and no contradictory hearing was held); Marchand v. Asbestos Defendants, 10-0476 (La.App. 4 Cir. 11/10/10), 52 So.3d 196, writ denied, 10-2732 (La.2/11/11), 56 So.3d 1002 (finding no personal jurisdiction after trial court: held hearings on exceptions; considered the parties' memoranda; considered previous cases and motions in those previous cases that were cited in the parties' memoranda; and, determined that defendant was not bound in the present case by the language it used in a joint motion to dismiss in a previous case. The opinion states that an "affidavit" which has "been submitted in proceedings involving exceptions of lack of personal jurisdiction" is proper for the trial court to consider and distinguishes this circumstance from that of an exception of prescription); Broussard v. Diamond Aircraft
While the de Reyes method of proving up an exception of lack of personal jurisdiction seems to conflict with Denoux, and potentially with the Code of Civil Procedure, unless and until we receive further guidance from the Louisiana Supreme Court, we will continue to follow the de Reyes method of proving up an exception of lack of personal jurisdiction. Therefore, in this case it is of no consequence that the parties did not introduce the exhibits upon which they relied in addressing the exception of lack of personal jurisdiction.
Because we found that the documents attached to the parties' memoranda were properly considered by the trial court, we now address the merits of Mr. Jacobsen's assignment.
When reviewing a trial court's legal ruling on a declinatory exception of lack of personal jurisdiction, an appellate court applies a de novo standard. Walker v. Super 8 Motels, Inc., 04-2206, p. 4 (La. App. 4 Cir. 12/7/05), 921 So.2d 983, 986; Winston v. Millaud, 05-0338, p. 5 (La.App. 4 Cir. 4/12/06), 930 So.2d 144, 149-50 (noting that "jurisdiction itself is a question of law subject to de novo review.") "However, the trial court's factual findings underlying the decision are reviewed under the manifest error standard of review." Maguire Plastic Surgery Ctr., LLC v. Booker, 47,929, 2013 WL 2218004 (La.App. 2 Cir. 5/22/13), 117 So.3d 239 (2013).
A state court's authority to exercise jurisdiction over a non-resident defendant is governed by the Louisiana Long-Arm Statute, La. R.S. 13:3201.1.
The exercise of personal jurisdiction over a non-resident defendant comports with due process when a two-part test is satisfied: first, the defendant must have had certain "minimum contacts" with the forum state; and second, as a result of those contacts, the maintenance of the suit would not offend traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice. Dahmes v. Champagne Elevators, Inc., 869 So.2d at 908 (citing International Shoe Co. v. State of Washington, 326 U.S. 310, 66 S.Ct. 154, 90 L.Ed. 95 (1945)).
The initial burden of proving sufficient minimal contacts to establish personal jurisdiction rests with the party asserting jurisdiction is proper. de Reyes, 586 So.2d at 107; Swoboda v. Hero Decks, 09-1303, p. 2 (La.App. 4 Cir. 3/31/10), 36 So.3d 994, 997 (holding that the party seeking to invoke personal jurisdiction bears the burden of establishing such jurisdiction exists). Once sufficient minimum contacts have been established, a presumption of reasonableness of jurisdiction arises. de Reyes, supra. "The burden then shifts to the opposing party to prove the assertion of jurisdiction would be so unreasonable in light of traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice as to overcome the presumption of reasonableness created by the defendant's minimum contacts with the forum." Id.
As to the first test of "minimum contacts", "[o]pinions in the wake of the pathmarking International Shoe decision have differentiated between general or all-purpose jurisdiction, and specific or case-linked jurisdiction." Goodyear Dunlop Tires Operations, S.A. v. Brown, ___ U.S. ___, ___, 131 S.Ct. 2846, 2851, 180 L.Ed.2d 796 (2011) (citing Helicopteros Nacionales de Colombia, S.A. v. Hall, 466 U.S. 408, 414, nn. 8-9, 104 S.Ct. 1868, 80 L.Ed.2d 404 (1984)). Explaining the difference, the Supreme Court stated:
Goodyear, supra (internal citations omitted). Here, Mr. Jacobsen does not contend that Norca's contacts with Louisiana subject it to the general jurisdiction of
The Fourth Circuit explained in Broussard v. Diamond Aircraft Industries, Inc., supra:
The Supreme Court has determined that the stream of commerce theory is a specific jurisdiction concept. Specifically, the Supreme Court stated that the "[f]low of a manufacturer's products into the forum ... may bolster an affiliation germane to specific jurisdiction." Id. The U.S. Supreme Court originally articulated the stream of commerce theory of specific jurisdiction in World-Wide Volkswagen, supra. "In essence, the "stream of commerce" theory holds that a defendant's placing of its product into the stream of commerce with the knowledge that the product will be used in the forum state is enough to constitute minimum contacts." Hunt v. Schult Homes Corp., 94-1592 (La. App. 3 Cir. 5/3/95), 657 So.2d 124, 126. Since its inception, the stream of commerce theory has been divided into what has been coined as the "stream of commerce" and the "stream of commerce plus" theory.
In Asahi Metal Industry Co. v. Superior Court of California, 480 U.S. 102, 107 S.Ct. 1026, 94 L.Ed.2d 92 (1987), the U.S. Supreme Court issued a plurality opinion in which the concurring justices did not subscribe to the portion of the opinion which sought to require more purposeful activity directed at the forum state than the mere placing of a product into the stream of commerce. This established the "stream of commerce plus" theory; it requires additional conduct by the defendant which is purposefully directed toward the forum state. Since Asahi, several Louisiana courts, in defective product cases, have adopted the "stream of commerce plus" theory. For example, see: Langley v. Oxford Chemicals, Inc., 25,596 (La.App. 2 Cir.1994), 634 So.2d 950; Cadawas v. Skibsaksjeselskapet Storli, Bergen, 630 So.2d 289 (La.App. 5 Cir. 1993); J. Wilton Jones Co. v. Touche Ross & Co., 556 So.2d 67 (La.App. 4 Cir.1989).
In J. McIntyre Machinery, Ltd. v. Nicastro, ___ U.S. ___, 131 S.Ct. 2780, 180 L.Ed.2d 765 (2011), the U.S. Supreme
The U.S. Supreme Court thereafter reversed the decision of the New Jersey Supreme Court, but it did not produce a majority opinion. Justice Kennedy authored a plurality opinion, joined by Chief Justice Roberts, Justice Scalia, and Justice Thomas. Under the plurality's approach to personal jurisdiction, "[t]he defendant's transmission of goods permits the exercise of jurisdiction only where the defendant can be said to have targeted the forum; as a general rule, it is not enough that the defendant might have predicted that its goods will reach the forum State." McIntyre, 131 S.Ct. at 2788.
Where, as in McIntyre, the reasoning of a Supreme Court opinion that does not command a majority vote, the opinion is not binding precedent. CTS Corp. v. Dynamics Corp. of Am., 481 U.S. 69, 81, 107 S.Ct. 1637, 95 L.Ed.2d 67 (1987). Instead, "[w]hen a fragmented Court decides a case and no single rationale explaining the result enjoys the assent of five Justices, `the holding of the Court may be viewed as that position taken by those Members who concurred in the judgments on the narrowest grounds.'" Marks v. United States, 430 U.S. 188, 193, 97 S.Ct. 990, 51 L.Ed.2d 260 (1977) (quoting Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153, 169 n. 15, 96 S.Ct. 2909, 49 L.Ed.2d 859 (1976) (opinion of Stewart, Powell, and Stevens, JJ)). In McIntyre, Justice Breyer's concurring opinion, joined by Justice Alito, furnished the narrowest grounds for the decision and controls here.
Justice Breyer made clear that his view that "resolving [the] case require[d] no more than adhering to [the Supreme Court's] precedents" and that his decision was "based on the facts," which involved only a single sale in New Jersey. McIntyre, 131 S.Ct. at 2791-92 (Breyer, J., concurring). He explained that under any of the Court's precedents "a single isolated sale" is not an adequate basis for personal jurisdiction. Id. at 2792. The crux of Justice Breyer's concurrence was that the Supreme Court's framework applying the stream-of-commerce theory — including the conflicting articulations of that theory in Asahi — had not changed, and that the defendant's activities in McIntyre failed to establish personal jurisdiction under any articulation of that theory. Id.; See AFTG-TG, LLC v. Nuvoton Tech. Corp., 689 F.3d 1358, 1363 (Fed.Cir.2012). Therefore, the narrowest holding is that which can be distilled from Justice Breyer's concurrence is that the law remains the same after McIntyre.
Recently, in Ainsworth v. Moffett Eng'g, Ltd., 12-60155, 2013 WL 1920729 (5th Cir. May 9, 2013), the U.S. Fifth Circuit agreed that McIntyre did not change to law and distinguished it from the circumstance before it. The court acknowledged that its use of the "stream-of-commerce" theory did not require that the defendant target the forum and it was therefore in tension with McIntyre's plurality opinion. The Court however reasoned that, since only the narrowest holding from McIntyre controlled,
At this point, it is not clear whether the Louisiana Supreme Court, in determining whether a defendant had minimum contacts with our state, would use the "stream of commerce" or "stream of commerce plus" theory analysis. However, given that the legislature intended to provide the broadest possible grounds for jurisdiction in its enactment of La. R.S. 13:3201(B), we will apply the "stream of commerce" analysis.
Turning to the facts of this matter, we find that Norca attached to its Memorandum in Support of Exception and Motion for Summary Judgment, the affidavit of Norca president, Russell Stern. In that affidavit Mr. Stern stated:
Mr. Jacobsen attached to his opposition to the exception of lack of personal jurisdiction various documents from the Asbestos Claims Research Facility, a document and records repository which contains, among other things, Johns-Manville business records relevant to asbestos cases, Mr. Jacobsen attached the following:
Mr. Jacobsen also attached a January 27, 1981 "Memo to File" from "L. Berry" which states,
Attached to the memo regarding "Marrero Plant 1940's & 1950's" which lists,
Mr. Jacobsen also attached two depositions, of Harry and Russell Stern. In his July 11, 1994 deposition in an unrelated case Harry Stern stated that he began working for Norca in 1946. Eventually he became the sole stockholder of the company, its president, then chairman of the board and continued as emeritus chairman. The company was originally located in New York, New York, in the Empire State Building, later moving to Great Neck, New York. The company was always a New York Corporation with its' principal place of business in New York. In the early 1950's he worked as a broker, selling, finding commodity sources, suppliers and customers. In 1958 he became vice president and, in 1964, president. In 1994 he became chairman of the board. From about 1954 to 1958 Norca represented John Beith Co., South African asbestos sellers, in the sale of asbestos fiber to U.S. companies, including Johns-Manville. Harry Stern made the contact with a representative of Beith in South Africa. Beith asked him to contact Johns-Manville as it was a pipe manufacturer and Beith could supply Transvaal Blue asbestos for use in the manufacture of pipe. Transvaal Blue was the only type of asbestos fiber Harry Stern brokered to U.S. companies. He met with the Johns-Manville people in
Mr. Jacobsen's second attached deposition was of Russell Stern. This deposition was taken in May, 2009, in an unrelated case. In it, Russell Stern stated, he had joined Norca in 1971 and was, at the time of his May 9, 2009 deposition, the president of the corporation. He knew that the company acquired asbestos from South Africa in the mid 1950's and provided it to Johns-Manville. There are no documents available regarding these transactions as they occurred over fifty years ago. The company provided asbestos to Johns-Manville but was only the broker. He understood that Beith was an amalgamation of small independent miners that did not have a direct relationship with Johns-Manville. Johns-Manville took ownership of the asbestos in Africa, and he has no idea where they shipped it. John Beith paid Norca a commission for its work. As to the name "NC-300," he knows nothing about that. He knows nothing about Norca branding asbestos products. He acknowledged his answer to interrogatories in which he stated,
At the outset, we find that the evidence does not establish that the trial court had jurisdiction over Norca because of consent or under a theory of general jurisdiction. Rather, the issue here is
First, we find that the evidence does not establish that Norca participated in the transfer of the asbestos in question into the State of Louisiana. Ownership of the asbestos transferred from Beith to Johns-Manville at the African port. There is no evidence that Norca ever owned the asbestos fiber. Further, Norca did not direct the asbestos to any particular geographic location, or state of the United States. Although Norca brokered the transfer of asbestos from Beith to Johns-Manville, Norca never determined or even influenced where Johns-Manville would take that asbestos. That decision was made by Johns-Manville directly.
Norca's asbestos related transactions here were with Johns-Manville in New York. While Norca may have obtained the benefits and protections of New York law when making these transactions, there is no evidence that Norca obtained or sought such a benefit from Louisiana. Norca had no property or office in Louisiana, nor did it advertise in, or send any employees to the State. Norca's only relevant contact with Louisiana was that the asbestos it brokered or supplied ended up here. There is no evidence that Norca knew that the asbestos might be shipped to Louisiana after Johns-Manville received it from Africa. On these facts, we find that the evidence does not establish that Norca ever purposefully availed itself of the benefits and protections of Louisiana's law.
Second, even if Norca was a supplier of this asbestos who placed it into the stream of commerce, there is no evidence that Norca could ever reasonably anticipate that its products would find their way to Louisiana. The evidence on this issue in fact indicates that Norca had reason to believe that the asbestos would be shipped to New York, or other sea ports on the East coast of the United States. Additionally, in World-Wide Volkswagen, Asahi, and McIntyre, the defendant seeking to avoid the court's jurisdiction at one point owned the product and thereafter sold it into the stream of commerce. That is not the case here. While it may be true that but-for Norca, the particular asbestos fibers which are alleged to have caused Mr. Jacobsen's injury may never have reach Louisiana, this is an insufficient basis by which to allow Louisiana courts to exert in personam jurisdiction over Norca.
For the foregoing reasons, we hereby affirm the trial court's grant of Norca's exception of lack of personal jurisdiction.
