Duncan v. O'Shea
Opinion of the Court
The Plaintiff, Alexys Grace O'Shea Duncan ("Alexys"), brings this action individually and as a beneficiary of the will and trusts of John J.C. O'Shea Jr., her grandfather, for alleged breaches of fiduciary duties, fraud, and conversion, among other claims, related to the management of the trusts' assets. Defendant Field, Manning, Stone, Hawthorne, & Aycock, P.C. ("Field Manning"), a Texas law firm, moves to dismiss (ECF No. 21) for lack of personal jurisdiction under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(2). Alternatively, Field Manning argues that the suit should be dismissed for improper venue under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(3). For the reasons that follow, I conclude that this Court does not have personal jurisdiction over Field Manning and, therefore, dismiss Field Manning as a defendant.
I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND
The following facts are taken from the Second Amended Complaint and supplemental affidavits in the record. For purposes of this motion, I take as true the facts asserted in the complaint and any undisputed facts asserted by Field Manning.
John J.C. O'Shea, Jr. ("John Jr.") and his wife, Rita O'Shea ("Rita") had four children: John J.C. O'Shea III ("John III"), Kelley A. O'Shea ("Kelley"), Kathleen M. O'Shea ("Kathleen"), and Brian C. O'Shea ("Brian"). The Plaintiff, Alexys, is Kelley's daughter and, therefore, John Jr. and Rita's granddaughter. John Jr. passed away in 1996 and his will was probated in Lubbock County, Texas. John Jr.'s will created two trusts: the O'Shea Family *120Trust and the O'Shea Marital Trust. Rita inherited half of John Jr.'s community property under Texas probate law, and the other half was apportioned between the two trusts. Rita was the executor of John Jr.'s estate, the trustee of the two trusts, and the primary beneficiary of the two trusts during her lifetime. The claims asserted against Field Manning in this suit arise out of Field Manning's representation of Rita.
After John Jr.'s death, Rita and the Family Trust jointly owned a vacation house in Kennebunkport ("the Maine Property"). In 2009, Rita, individually and as trustee of the Family Trust, conveyed the Maine Property to a Texas limited liability company, Killybegs, LLC, in consideration for a membership interest in the LLC. Field Manning represented Rita in the creation of Killybegs, LLC, and Rita's conveyance of the Maine Property. All of Field Manning's legal services related to the creation of Killybegs, LLC, and the transfer of the Maine Property were performed in Texas. Thus, the documents prepared by Field Manning related to the LLC and the deed of conveyance were prepared in Texas, and Rita executed the deed in Texas. After the property was transferred to Killybegs, LLC, Attorney Carrissa Cleavinger of Field Manning mailed the deed and a transfer tax form from Texas to the York County Registry of Deeds in Maine for recording. Other than mailing the deed from Texas to the Maine registry for recording, Field Manning had no contact with Maine related to the work that the law firm performed for Rita. None of Field Manning's attorneys are licensed to practice law in Maine.
II. LEGAL ANALYSIS
1. Personal Jurisdiction
"It is axiomatic that, to hear a case, a court must have personal jurisdiction over the parties, that is, the power to require the parties to obey its decrees." Hannon v. Beard ,
"In determining whether a non-resident defendant is subject to its jurisdiction, a federal court exercising diversity jurisdiction 'is the functional equivalent of a state court sitting in the forum state.' " Baskin-Robbins ,
*1214 Charles Alan Wright et al., Federal Practice & Procedure § 1068.1 (4th ed. 2018). That one exception is set out in Rule 4(k)(2), which authorizes the exercise of personal jurisdiction in federal question cases where a defendant lacks sufficient minimum contacts with "any single state" but has sufficient minimum contacts with the United States as a whole to justify the application of federal law. Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(k) advisory committee's note to 1993 amendment. That exception does not apply here because Field Manning is subject to general personal jurisdiction in Texas, where the law firm maintains its regular business.
To establish personal jurisdiction, "a plaintiff must satisfy both the forum state's long-arm statute and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment." Knox v. MetalForming, Inc. ,
A. General Jurisdiction
"General jurisdiction exists when the litigation is not directly founded on the defendant's forum-based contacts[.]" Swiss Am. Bank ,
B. Specific Jurisdiction
"Specific jurisdiction exists when there is a demonstrable nexus between a plaintiff's claims and a defendant's forum-based activities." Swiss Am. Bank ,
Because "[q]uestions of specific jurisdiction are always tied to the particular claims," I first review the claims asserted against Field Manning in the Second Amended Complaint.
i. Relatedness
I must first determine whether the claims against Field Manning directly arise out of or relate to Field Manning's forum activity. Based on the Second Amended Complaint, Field Manning's only contact with Maine was the mailing of the deed of transfer to the York County Registry of Deeds. The supplemental materials filed by Field Manning also show that Field Manning assisted in registering Killybegs, LLC as a foreign corporation in Maine, but that the law firm did so indirectly. See ECF No. 21-7 ¶ 10; ECF No. 21-11. Attorney Cleavinger states in her affidavit that Field Manning sent the required paperwork to BlumbergExcelsior in Austin, Texas, and that BlumbergExcelsior then took the remaining steps to register Killybegs, LLC as a foreign corporation in Maine. ECF No. 21-7 ¶ 10. Sending mail into the forum state constitutes "a jurisdictional contact." Swiss Am. Bank ,
Alexys argues that the creation of the LLC and the transfer of the Maine Property had an effect in Maine by "chang[ing] the rights of owners of real property located within the State of Maine." ECF No. 25 at 11. This argument is similar to the one advanced by the plaintiffs in Sawtelle ,
The same is true here. The mailing of the deed is ancillary to the wrongful acts alleged to have occurred in Texas because Alexys' claims of fraud against Field Manning do not arise directly from the registration of the deed to the Maine Property. Rather, the claims arise from various actions that Field Manning took outside of Maine, including preparing the required paperwork to assist their client, Rita, in the creation of Killybegs, LLC, and the execution of the deed which transferred the Maine Property to the LLC. It is those actions that Alexys argues perpetrated a fraud, and both took place in Texas. Therefore, Alexys' showing of relatedness is tenuous at best and, accordingly, is insufficient to satisfy the relatedness prong.
Because I conclude that the first prong of the test for specific jurisdiction is not satisfied, I need not evaluate the second and third prongs. Swiss Am. Bank ,
ii. Purposeful Availment
"The purposeful availment inquiry asks whether a defendant has deliberately target[ed] its behavior toward the society or economy of a particular forum," which "guarantees that a defendant will not be subjected to the exercise of jurisdiction based solely on random, isolated or fortuitous contacts with the forum state." Baskin-Robbins ,
Here, Field Manning's contact with Maine was voluntary in that Field Manning mailed the deed to the York County Registry of Deeds as part of the legal services that it provided to its client, Rita. But this single contact with Maine was not such that the law firm could reasonably anticipate being haled into court here. An out-of-state law firm's mailing of a deed to be recorded in Maine does not, without more, create a reasonable expectation that the firm will be subjected to a lawsuit in Maine. Therefore, the law firm's involuntary presence before this state's courts was not foreseeable.
*124Alexys argues, without citing any legal support for the proposition, that litigation in Maine is foreseeable because Field Manning "participated in the practice of law in the State of Maine" by preparing the deed to the Maine Property, paying the filing fee to register the deed, and "register[ing] the LLC to do business in the State of Maine as a foreign LLC." ECF No. 25 at 12. "Under Maine law, persons are guilty of the unauthorized practice of law if they practice law or hold themselves out to practice law while not being admitted to the bar." Bd. of Overseers of the Bar v. MacKerron ,
Field Manning's contact with Maine can fairly be characterized as "isolated," see Baskin-Robbins ,
iii. Reasonableness
Finally, I assess whether the exercise of jurisdiction over Field Manning is "fair and reasonable."
First, Field Manning would be burdened were it required to appear in Maine because its place of business is in Texas. But "defending in a foreign jurisdiction almost always presents some measure of inconvenience, and hence this factor becomes meaningful only where a party can demonstrate a special or unusual burden." Sawtelle ,
Second, Maine does not have a compelling interest in adjudicating the parties' dispute. Although a forum state does have an interest in the disposition of real estate within its borders, see Pritzker v. Yari ,
Third, Alexys' interest in obtaining convenient and effective relief also does not weigh in favor of this Court exercising specific jurisdiction over Field Manning. Because Alexys is a citizen of Florida, it is no more convenient for her to litigate this suit in Maine than it would be in Texas, where Field Manning is subject to general jurisdiction.
The fourth and fifth factors require me to consider the judicial system's interest in obtaining the most effective resolution of the controversy and the common interests of all sovereigns in promoting substantive social policies. Here, neither of those factors weighs heavily in one direction or another. Field Manning argues that the interest of the judicial system would be served by litigating the case in Texas, where Field Manning and all of its witnesses are located, but that fact does not tip the scales in its favor. See Sawtelle ,
Viewing the reasonableness factors in total, I conclude that Alexys has not met her burden of demonstrating that it would be fair and reasonable for this Court to exercise specific personal jurisdiction over Field Manning.
III. CONCLUSION
For the reasons discussed above, I conclude that none of the three prongs required to make the exercise of specific personal jurisdiction over Field Manning proper in Maine are met. Having already determined that general jurisdiction over Field Manning does not exist, I conclude that this Court lacks personal jurisdiction over Field Manning. It is therefore ORDERED that Field Manning's Motion to Dismiss (ECF No. 21) is GRANTED . Field Manning is DISMISSED as a Defendant. Because I conclude that this Court lacks personal jurisdiction over Field Manning, I do not reach the law firm's argument regarding improper venue.
SO ORDERED.
The Second Amended Complaint skips from Count Three to Count Five. Although the counts are mislabeled, I refer to them by the numbers set out in the Second Amended Complaint for ease of reference.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Alexys Grace O'Shea DUNCAN, Individually and as a Beneficiary of the Will and Trusts of John J.C. O'Shea Jr. v. Kathleen M. O'SHEA, Individually and as Co-Executor of the Estate of Rita O'Shea, Co-Trustee of the Will and Trusts of John J.C. O'Shea Jr.
- Cited By
- 3 cases
- Status
- Published