Allstate Ins. Co. v. Klein

Decision Date03 December 1992
Docket NumberNo. S92G0399,S92G0399
Citation422 S.E.2d 863,262 Ga. 599
PartiesALLSTATE INSURANCE COMPANY v. KLEIN.
CourtGeorgia Supreme Court

Terry L. Readdick, Dickey, Whelchel, Brown & Readdick, Brunswick, for Allstate Ins. Co. W. Douglas Adams, Brunswick, for Klein.

SEARS-COLLINS, Justice.

In this action based on a contract for insurance, the trial court granted the motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction filed by the appellee, Allstate Insurance Company (Allstate). The appellant, Michael Klein (Klein), sought review by the Court of Appeals, and that court reversed the trial court. Klein v. Allstate Insurance Co., 202 Ga.App. 188, 413 S.E.2d 777 (1991). We granted certiorari to consider whether the trial court had personal jurisdiction over Allstate. We find that the trial court did have personal jurisdiction over Allstate, but for different reasons than those on which the Court of Appeals relied.

On August 22, 1986, Klein was a passenger in a car being driven by his father through Glynn County, Georgia, when the car collided with another vehicle and Klein was injured. Klein was then and is now a nonresident of Georgia. The car was insured by Allstate, under a policy issued in New Jersey.

On August 10, 1990, Klein sued Allstate in Glynn County, georgia, complaining that Allstate refused to pay insurance benefits due him under the Georgia Motor Vehicle Accident Reparations (No-Fault) Act (OCGA § 33-34-1 et seq.) for the injuries he sustained in the collision. Klein stated as his grounds for jurisdiction that Allstate is a corporation authorized to transact business in Georgia, and which has an office and a registered agent in Glynn County. Klein did not purport to use the Georgia long arm statute (OCGA § 9-10-90 et seq.) (Long Arm Statute) as a basis for personal jurisdiction. Rather, Klein relied on the fact that Allstate is a corporation authorized to do business in this state, and, hence, not a "nonresident" for purposes of personal jurisdiction as that term is defined in the Long Arm Statute.

Allstate admits that it does business in Georgia, that it has a place of business and an agent in Glynn County, and Allstate is in fact authorized to do business in Georgia. Allstate does not dispute that Klein perfected service of process on Allstate's designated agent for receipt of service in Georgia. However, Allstate moved to dismiss Klein's complaint for lack of personal jurisdiction, claiming that any connection between the cause of action and Allstate's activities within the state were too tenuous to satisfy the requirements of § 9-10-91(1). Allstate argued that the contract was not entered into in Georgia and that there were no contacts within Georgia between Klein and Allstate with respect to the contract. The trial court granted Allstate's motion to dismiss.

The Court of Appeals considered due process "minimum contacts" requirements as well as the applicable provisions of the Long Arm Statute. That court held that because "the claim in this case adequately results from or is linked to Allstate's broad-based forum related insurance activities," the exercise of personal jurisdiction by a Georgia court over Allstate is justified. Klein, 202 Ga.App. at 191, 413 S.E.2d 777 (emphasis in original).

Allstate now argues that the Court of Appeals incorrectly concluded that, under the facts of this case, the trial court had personal jurisdiction over Allstate under the "minimum contacts" test and the Long Arm Statute. We affirm the Court of Appeals' reversal of the trial court's grant of Allstate's motion to dismiss, but on different grounds.

The Long Arm Statute applies solely to persons who were nonresidents of Georgia at the time the act or omission complained of occurred. Stewman v. Magley, 138 Ga.App. 545, 548, 227 S.E.2d 277 (1976). Therefore, the requirement that a cause of action "arise out of" activities within the state (OCGA § 9-10-91), applies only to the exercise of personal jurisdiction over nonresidents. 1 "Nonresident" is defined for purposes of personal jurisdiction in the Long Arm Statute. That definition specifically addresses the status of foreign corporations.

As used in [the Long Arm Statute], the term

" 'nonresident' includes ... a corporation which is not organized or existing under the laws of this state and is not authorized to do or transact business in this state at the time a claim or cause of action ... arises." OCGA § 9-10-90 (emphasis added).

It is apparent from the language of this definition that a corporation which is "authorized to do or transact business in this state at the time a claim" arises is a "resident" for purposes of personal jurisdiction over that corporation in an action filed in the courts of this state. As a resident, such a foreign corporation may sue or be sued to...

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    ...duly vested, and that appellant's federal due process rights were not violated thereby. Additionally, in Allstate Ins. Co. v. Klein, 262 Ga. 599, 422 S.E.2d 863 (1992), the Supreme Court of Georgia examined the definition of nonresident in the Georgia Long Arm Statute (OCGA § 9-10-90) and h......
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    ...in this products liability action against an out-of-state corporation to reconsider one of our holdings in Allstate Insurance Co. v. Klein , 262 Ga. 599, 422 S.E.2d 863 (1992). In Klein , we held that Georgia courts may exercise general personal jurisdiction over any out-of-state corporat......
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4 firm's commentaries
4 books & journal articles
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    • United States
    • Emory University School of Law Emory Law Journal No. 72-4, 2023
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    ...Co. v. McCall, 312 Ga. 422, 422-23 (2021).390. Ga. Code Ann. § 9-10-91 (West 2011).391. Id. § 14-2-1505.392. Allstate Ins. Co. v. Klein, 422 S.E.2d 863, 865 (Ga. 1992).393. Ga. Code Ann. § 9-10-90 (West 2011). 394. Id. § 9-10-91.395. Id. § 9-10-90 (emphasis added).396. Id. § 14-2-1505(b).39......
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    • Mercer University School of Law Mercer Law Reviews No. 74-1, September 2022
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    ...at 428, 870 S.E.2d at 384.66. 312 Ga. 422, 863 S.E.2d 81 (2021).67. Id. at 423, 863 S.E.2d at 83.68. Id. at 423, 863 S.E.2d at 83-84.69. 262 Ga. 599, 422 S.E.2d 863 (1992).70. Cooper Tire & Rubber Co., 313 Ga. at 431, 870 S.E.2d at 88.71. Id. at 423, 870 S.E.2d at 84.72. Id. at 424, 870 S.E......
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    • Georgia State University College of Law Georgia State Law Reviews No. 36-6, August 2020
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    ...Helicopteros, 466 U.S. 408; Perkins v. Benguet Consol. Mining Co., 342 U.S. 437 (1952). 24. See generally Allstate Ins. Co. v. Klein, 422 S.E.2d 863 (Ga. 1992).25. Id. at 864.26. Id.27. Id.28. Id.29. Id.30. Klein, 422 S.E.2d at 864-65.31. Id. at 865. 32. Id.33. Id.34. Id. at 865 n.3.35. Id.......
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    • United States
    • Mercer University School of Law Mercer Law Reviews No. 74-1, September 2022
    • Invalid date
    ...301-02, 869 S.E.2d at 497-98. 86. Id. at 305, 869 S.E.2d at 500.87. 312 Ga. 422, 863 S.E.2d 81 (2021).88. Id. at 422, 863 S.E.2d at 83.89. 262 Ga. 599, 601, 422 S.E.2d 863 (1992).90. Id. at 601, 422 S.E.2d at 865.91. Cooper Tire & Rubber Co., 312 Ga. at 422, 863 S.E.2d at 83.92. Id. at 423,......

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