International Business Jurisdiction - Business Law - Study Case, Study Guides, Projects, Research of Commercial Law

Download International Business Jurisdiction - Business Law - Study Case and more Study Guides, Projects, Research Commercial Law in PDF only on Docsity! OPINION No. 04-06-00292-CV TRANSPORTADORA EGOBA S.A. DE C.V., Appellant v. Jose Antonio ARREDONDO, Individually and As Personal Representative of the Estate of Miriam Arredondo, Deceased and As Personal Representative of the Estate of Jose Arredondo, Deceased; Edna Arredondo; Martha Arredondo, Individually and As Independent Administrator of the Estate of Juan Arredondo, Deceased, and As Independent Administrator of the Estate of Juana Arredondo, Deceased, and As Personal Representative of the Estate of Selena Arredondo, Deceased, and As Next Friend of Ana Lidia Arredondo, Incompetent; Yesenia Arredondo; Georgina Arredondo; Delia Arredondo; and Albino Mena, Appellees From the 111th Judicial District Court, Webb County, Texas Trial Court No. 2005-CVE-000152-D2 Honorable Raul Vasquez, Judge Presiding Opinion by: Sandee Bryan Marion, Justice Sitting: Catherine Stone, Justice Sarah B. Duncan, Justice Sandee Bryan Marion, Justice Delivered and Filed: October 25, 2006 AFFIRMED This is an appeal from the denial of appellant’s special appearance. We affirm. 04-06-00292-CV −2− BACKGROUND Appellant, Transportadora Egoba S.A. de C.V. (“Egoba”), is a Mexican trucking company with its principal place of business in Queretaro, Mexico. On September 13, 2004, Jose Antonio Arredondo, Miriam Arredondo, Jose Arredondo, Juan Arredondo, Juana Arredondo, and Selena Arredondo left their home in Dimmitt, Texas for a family visit in Mexico. The next day, while in Mexico, the family was in their vehicle, which had come to a stop because of traffic congestion. While stopped, their vehicle was hit from behind by an Egoba truck. The force of the impact sent the Arredondo vehicle into another vehicle. The truck’s driver fled the scene. Juan Antonio suffered substantial injuries, and Miriam, Jose, Juan, Juana, and Selena were killed. Appellees filed suit against Egoba in Webb County, Texas. Egoba filed a special appearance, which the trial court denied. This appeal by Egoba ensued. STANDARD OF REVIEW A plaintiff bears the initial burden of pleading sufficient allegations to bring a nonresident defendant within the provisions of the Texas long-arm statute. BMC Software Belgium, N.V. v. Marchand, 83 S.W.3d 789, 793 (Tex. 2002). However, the party contesting jurisdiction has the burden to prove the trial court lacks personal jurisdiction. American Type Culture Collection, Inc. v. Coleman, 83 S.W.3d 801, 807 (Tex. 2002). On appeal, we review de novo the trial court’s determination to grant or deny a special appearance. Coleman, 83 S.W.3d at 806; BMC Software, 83 S.W.3d at 794. Whether a court has personal jurisdiction over a defendant is a question of law. Coleman, 83 S.W.3d at 805-06; BMC Software, 83 S.W.3d at 794. However, to resolve the issue of jurisdiction, the trial court must frequently determine questions of fact. Coleman, 83 S.W.3d at 806; BMC Software, 83 S.W.3d at 794. When, as here, a trial court does not issue findings of fact and 04-06-00292-CV −5− In this case, Egoba asserts its contacts with Texas are too attenuated to support general jurisdiction. We disagree. One of Egoba’s directors, Pedro Alegria, lives in Laredo, Texas, and he receives some company mail at his Laredo home. Egoba’s website promotes its services in Texas, including that it offers “40 transfer trucks at the cross-border area between Nuevo Laredo and Laredo, Texas for back and forth international freight movements.” Egoba’s long-haul trucks do not cross over into U.S. territory or haul freight between locations in Texas because Egoba does not have the proper permits to do so. However, Egoba’s drayage trucks have the permits to cross into Texas; therefore, if an Egoba customer requests that its freight be picked up or dropped off in Texas, an Egoba drayage truck makes the run. Twenty to thirty Egoba trucks cross the border into Texas daily and drop off or pick up loads at yards in Laredo; traveling approximately 16,000 miles per month in Texas. In order to cross the border into Texas, Egoba is required to obtain permits from the Texas Department of Transportation and it must have a registered agent in Texas. Alegria testified he is that agent. Alegria also said Egoba has drayage trucks because many U.S. companies do not want to cross into Mexico. In the years between 2002 and 2004, Egoba had interchange agreements with a dozen companies to perform services in Texas on a routine basis. Egoba has one U.S. bank account at a bank in Laredo, Texas. The Laredo account is for the convenience of Egoba’s customers and to buy trucks. Alegria testified Egoba purchased gas in the U.S., but stopped a few years ago when the price of gas rose. Egoba owns an unimproved lot of land in Laredo, Texas on which it parks its trucks. Finally, within the past several years, Egoba has been a party to two lawsuits filed in Texas courts: Egoba was sued in an El Paso, Texas court and sought 04-06-00292-CV −6− a change of venue to Webb County; and Egoba itself sued a Mexican customer in another Texas court to collect on a debt. Any one of Egoba’s contacts with Texas standing alone is not determinative of jurisdiction. However, determining the existence of personal jurisdiction does not involve an examination of each of Egoba’s contacts with Texas viewed in isolation from one another. See Holt Oil & Gas Corp. v. Harvey, 801 F.2d 773, 779 (5th Cir. 1986). Rather, we are required to examine Egoba’s contacts in toto to determine whether they constitute the kind of continuous and systematic contacts required to satisfy due process. Id. We conclude Egoba’s contacts with Texas, as a whole, are continuous and systematic. See Summit Mach. Tool Mfg. v. Warren Transp., 920 F. Supp. 722, 726 (S.D. Tex. 1996) (finding that minimum contacts had been met where defendant motor carrier transported 1,700 loads of cargo in a month to Laredo, Texas; transported 2,000-3,000 shipments to a Texas company; and received shipments, solicited business, negotiated and consummated contracts, and purchased equipment in Texas). Traditional Notions of Fair Play and Substantial Justice Even when minimum contacts are established, a Texas court may not exercise jurisdiction over a nonresident defendant unless the exercise of jurisdiction comports with traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice. See CMMC v. Salinas, 929 S.W.2d 435, 437 (Tex. 1996). The Texas Supreme Court has stated that “[i]n this inquiry, it is incumbent upon the defendant to present a compelling case that the presence of some consideration would render jurisdiction unreasonable.’” Guardian Royal Exch., 815 S.W.2d at 231 (quoting Burger King, 471 U.S. at 477). Thus, a defendant’s contacts must be evaluated in light of other factors to determine whether the assertion of personal jurisdiction comports with fair play and substantial justice. Guardian 04-06-00292-CV −7− Royal Exch., 815 S.W.2d at 232. These factors include (1) the burden on the defendant, (2) the interests of the forum state in adjudicating the dispute, and (3) the plaintiff’s interest in obtaining convenient and effective relief. Id. “When the defendant is a resident of another nation, the court must also consider the procedural and substantive policies of other nations whose interests are affected by the assertion of jurisdiction by a state court.” Id. at 228. The unique burdens placed upon a foreign defendant who must defend itself in a foreign legal system carries significant weight in assessing the reasonableness of stretching the long arm of personal jurisdiction over national borders. Id. at 229. The procedural and substantive interests of other nations in a state court’s assertion of jurisdiction over an alien defendant will differ from case to case. Id. “In every case, however, those interests, as well as the Federal Government’s interest in its foreign relations policies, will be best served by a careful inquiry into the reasonableness of the assertion of jurisdiction in the particular case, and an unwillingness to find the serious burdens on an alien defendant outweighed by minimal interests on the part of the plaintiff or the forum State.” Id. at 228-29. Here, the accident occurred in Mexico, and did not occur as a result of Egoba’s contacts with Texas. All witnesses to the accident are in Mexico, potential third parties who may be liable are in Mexico, all documents are in Spanish, the Egoba truck involved in the accident is impounded in Mexico, and the accident was investigated by Mexican authorities. In addition, on appeal, Egoba argued extensively that this court must consider the impact of a Texas court’s jurisdiction over a foreign company whose business involves the facilitation of commerce between two countries. According to Egoba, “the significance of the drayage industry to the economies of both the United