Petroleum Helicopters, Inc. v. Avco Corp.

• Decision Date: 19 October 1987
• Docket Number: No. 87-CQ-0529,87-CQ-0529
• Citation: 513 So.2d 1188
• Parties: PETROLEUM HELICOPTERS, INC. v. AVCO CORPORATION, et al.
• Court: Louisiana Supreme Court

Page 1188

513 So.2d 1188

PETROLEUM HELICOPTERS, INC. v. AVCO CORPORATION, et al.

No. 87-CQ-0529.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

Oct. 19, 1987.

Kenneth H. Laborde, Lisa J. Miley, McGlinchey, Stafford et al., for appellant.

L. Albert Forrest, Roy, Forrest & Lopresto, W. Luther Wilson, Taylor, Porter et al., Howard Daigle, Jr., Stephen Hall, Phelps, Dunbar et al., Perkin Coie, for appellees.

LEMMON, Justice.

Pursuant to Louisiana Supreme Court Rule XII, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, 811 F.2d 922, certified to this court a question of state law regarding whether La.R.S. 13:3201 et seq., the Louisiana Long-arm Statute, confers personal jurisdiction over a nonresident defendant when the cause of action did not arise out of any conduct by the nonresident which is specifically enumerated in the statute, even though a Louisiana court's assertion of personal jurisdiction does not violate federal constitutional principles.

The determination of the validity of a state court's assertion of personal jurisdiction over a nonresident under a long-arm statute generally involves a two-step analysis. The state statute must provide authority for the court to exercise personal jurisdiction over the nonresident in the particular litigation, and there must be sufficient contacts between the defendant, the litigation and the forum state so as not to offend traditional notions of due process. ¹ Here, the federal appellate court determined that there were sufficient minimum contacts to satisfy due process and certified the question of state law pertaining to the scope of the Louisiana Long-arm Statute. However, after the filing of the present action, the Louisiana Legislature significantly broadened the scope of the Louisiana Long-arm Statute to extend a Louisiana court's authority to exercise personal jurisdiction over a nonresident on any basis consistent with federal and state constitutional principles. Since we conclude that the limits of the amended statute and the limits of due process are coextensive and that the amendment applies to pending actions, we determine that the federal court's decision on constitutional due process also decided that the state statute authorized the exercise of jurisdiction over the nonresident in this litigation.

I

Plaintiff, a Louisiana corporation, purchased a helicopter from a Texas company which had manufactured the aircraft and installed emergency floatation devices purchased from a California corporation. The helicopter sank in the Gulf of Mexico outside Louisiana's territorial limits. Plaintiff filed suit in federal court against several parties, including the California manufacturer of the floatation devices, to recover the value of its destroyed helicopter. Service of plaintiff's complaint on the manufacturer was by certified mail in accordance with La.R.S. 13:3204. The manufacturer objected to the Louisiana court's exercise of personal jurisdiction.

The evidence established that the manufacturer had transacted business extensively in Louisiana, but had never supplied these particular floatation devices directly to anyone in this state. ² The district court dismissed the action for lack of personal jurisdiction over the manufacturer under the Louisiana Long-arm Statute. Petroleum Helicopters, Inc. v. Avco Corp., 623 F.Supp. 902 (W.D.La.1985).

On appeal, the court of appeal held that due process requirements did not prevent a Louisiana court from asserting personal jurisdiction over the manufacturer under the circumstances of this case, but noted that the decisions of the state courts were unclear as to the applicability of the long-arm statute to the conduct of a nonresident which was not specifically enumerated in the statute. The court extensively discussed recent decisions of state intermediate appellate courts which conflicted with statements in dicta by this court that the long-arm statute was intended to tap the full potential of personal jurisdiction over nonresidents consistent with federal constitutional principles. Noting that the question of the applicability of the long-arm statute was a matter of Louisiana law which would be dispositive of the case, the court decided to certify the question to this court. 804 F.2d 1367 (5th Cir.1986). After receiving memoranda from counsel, the court certified the following question to this court: "Was the service of process made on Garrett Corporation in this case valid under Louisiana Rev.Stat.Ann. § 13:3201(1) (West Supp.1986)?" 808 F.2d 1520 (5th Cir.1987). This court accepted certification. 503 So.2d 1010.

II

Louisiana adopted its first long-arm statute in 1964. ³ The initial statute provided:

"A court may exercise personal jurisdiction over a nonresident, who acts directly or by an agent, as to a cause of action arising from the non-resident's

"(a) transacting any business in this state;

"(b) contracting to supply services or things in this state;

"(c) causing injury or damage by an offense or quasi offense committed through an act or omission in this state;

"(d) 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 substantial revenue from goods used or consumed or services rendered, in this state; or

"(e) having an interest in, using, or possessing a real right or immovable property in this state." (emphasis added)

Despite the statute's narrow language, Comment (a) to the original statute indicated an intention for broad application:

"R.S. 13:3201 through 13:3207 were adopted on the recommendation of the Louisiana State Law Institute to permit the courts of this state to tap the full potential of jurisdiction in personam over nonresidents permitted by International Shoe Co. v. State of Washington, 326 U.S. 310, 66 S.Ct. 154, 90 L.Ed. 95, 161 A.L.R. 1057 (1945); and McGee v. International Life Insurance Company, 355 U.S. 220, 78 S.Ct. 199, 2 L.Ed.2d 223 (1957)." (emphasis added)

However, this potentially sweeping application was also limited by another part of the 1964 statute, La.R.S. 13:3202, which provided:

"When personal jurisdiction over a non-resident is based solely upon R.S. 13:3201, only a cause of action arising from acts or omissions enumerated therein may be asserted against him."

Between its initial adoption in 1964 and the 1983 accident at issue in this litigation, La.R.S. 13:3201 was amended three times to add Subsections (f), (g) and (h), which provide:

"(f) Non-support of child or spouse or a former spouse domiciled in this state to whom an obligation of support is owed and with whom the nonresident formerly resided in this state. [Added by Acts 1977, No. 734]

"(g) Parentage and support of a child who was conceived by the nonresident while he resided in or was in this state. [Added by Acts 1980, No. 764]

"(h) 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." [Added by Acts 1984, No. 399]

Thus, at the time of this accident, La.R.S. 13:3201, given a literal interpretation, arguably would not provide jurisdiction over the California manufacturer. Subsections (e), (f) and (g) related to immovable property and domestic matters. Subsection (b) related to contracts to supply. Subsections (d) and (h) pertained only to injury or damages caused in this state, and subsection (c) pertained only to an act or omission in this state. No subsection expressly covered conduct by a nonresident outside Louisiana which caused injury or damage outside Louisiana. Only subsection (a) had arguable applicability, but the statutory language expressly limited its application to a "cause of action arising from the nonresident's ... transacting any business in this state". Because the California manufacturer had transacted business in Louisiana, but the cause of action did not arise from those particular transactions, the federal court certified the question of the applicability of subsection (a).

Although this court has noted in past decisions that the intent of the original long-arm statute was to tap the full potential of jurisdiction allowed under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, we have never been called upon to decide a case which squarely fell between the statutory reach of the literal provisions of the long-arm statute and the constitutional reach of due process. However, several intermediate courts have decided that a Louisiana court may not exercise personal jurisdiction over a nonresident when there is no direct connection between the nonresident's conduct in Louisiana and the plaintiff's cause of action. Alba v. Riviere, 457 So.2d 33 (La.App. 4th Cir.1984), cert. denied, 462 So.2d 194 (La.1984); Robinson v. Vanguard Insurance Co., 468 So.2d 1360 (La.App. 1st Cir.1985), cert. denied, 472 So.2d 924 (La.1985). In these decisions, the defendant's conduct fell beyond the reach of the long-arm statute, although possibly within due process limitations for exercise of personal jurisdiction.

In 1987 the Louisiana Legislature amended the long-arm statute by Acts 1987, No. 418, effective September 1, 1987, to add La. R.S. 13:3201(B), which provides:

"In addition to the provisions of [13:3201(A) ], a court of this state may exercise personal jurisdiction over a nonresident on any basis consistent with the constitution of this state and the Constitution of the United States."

Act 418 also repealed La. R.S. 13:3202, which had expressly limited La.R.S. 32:3201 to causes of action arising from acts or omissions enumerated therein.

The 1987 amendment was designed to ensure that the long-arm...