Capital Promotions, L.L.C. v. Don King Productions, Inc., No. 97/07-0508 (Iowa 9/26/2008)

• Court: Iowa Supreme Court
• Writing for the Court: Ternus
• Citation: Capital Promotions, L.L.C. v. Don King Productions, Inc., No. 97/07-0508 (Iowa 9/26/2008), 756 NW 2d 828 (Iowa 2008)
• Decision Date: 26 September 2008
• Docket Number: No. 97/07-0508,97/07-0508
• Parties: CAPITAL PROMOTIONS, L.L.C., Appellant, v. DON KING PRODUCTIONS, INC., Appellee, and DON KING and BILLY BAXTER, Defendants.

756 N.W.2d 828,

CAPITAL PROMOTIONS, L.L.C., Appellant,
v.
DON KING PRODUCTIONS, INC., Appellee, and DON KING and BILLY BAXTER, Defendants.

No. 97 / 07-0508

SUPREME COURT OF IOWA

September 26, 2008, Filed

Joseph G. Bertogli, Des Moines, and Kenneth R. Munro of Munro Law Office, P.C., Des Moines, for appellant.

Mariclare Thinnes Culver of Duncan Green Brown & Langeness PC, Des Moines, and Gerald G. Saltarelli and James A. Morsch of Butler Rubin Saltarelli & Boyd LLP, Chicago, Illinois, for appellee.

TERNUS, Chief Justice. All justices concur except Appel and Baker, JJ., who take no part.

OPINION

[756 N.W.2d 830] TERNUS, Chief Justice.

The appellant, Capital Promotions, L.L.C., sued the appellee, Don King Productions, Inc., for intentional interference with Capital's contractual relationship with boxer Tye Fields. The district court granted King Productions' motion for summary judgment, ruling Iowa courts did not have personal jurisdiction over King Productions. The court of appeals affirmed the district court's dismissal of King Productions, and we granted Capital's application for further review. After reviewing the record and considering the applicable legal principles, we agree with the district court and the court of appeals that King Productions did not have sufficient contacts with this state to support personal jurisdiction in Iowa. Therefore, we affirm the decision of the court of appeals and the judgment of the district court.

[756 N.W.2d 831] I. Background Facts and Prior Proceedings.

Capital Promotions, L.L.C. is an Iowa limited liability corporation with its principal place of business in Iowa. In 2000, it entered into a promotional rights agreement with boxer Tye Fields. Fields, whose hometown is Des Moines, Iowa, resided in Missouri when the contract was signed. By the time of the events giving rise to this lawsuit, he resided in Nevada. Billy Baxter became Fields' manager sometime in 2003. Baxter also resided in Nevada.

Under the promotional rights agreement between Capital and Fields, Capital had the exclusive right to promote Fields' professional boxing contests, including staging and selling tickets for such contests and all marketing and merchandizing rights. By its terms, this agreement was to be governed by the law of Iowa and was to terminate on February 4, 2005. During the term of the contract, Capital arranged numerous fights for Fields. Several bouts were in Iowa, but the majority of Fields' fights were in other states.

Don King Productions, Inc. is a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in Florida. Like Capital, King Productions is in the business of promoting boxing matches. King Productions has never promoted a fight in Iowa. It has never owned or rented property in Iowa, has never had a bank account in Iowa, has never had an employee located in Iowa, and has never had a registered agent in Iowa.

In January 2004, King Productions employee Eric Botcher called Capital's Des Moines office and spoke with Capital employee Bill McGee. Botcher told McGee that King Productions was interested in taking over the promotional rights for Fields. McGee advised Botcher that Capital was Fields' promoter and had no interest in relinquishing its rights.

A few months later, in the spring of 2004, Bobby Goodman, another King Productions employee, called Capital in Des Moines and spoke with Capital's president, Paul Scieszinski. The purpose of this call was to offer Fields an International Boxing Federation (IBF) world heavyweight title fight with a King Productions fighter, Chris Byrd, who was the reigning IBF heavyweight champion. One of the terms of the proposed fight was that, if Fields beat Byrd, King Productions would be allowed to assume Fields' promotional rights. Scieszinski turned down the offer and advised Goodman that Capital was not interested in relinquishing its promotional rights to Fields.

In the summer of 2004, Goodman called Capital to negotiate a fight between another King Productions fighter, Henry Akiwande, and Fields. This conversation was prompted by the fact Fields had won the United States Boxing Association (USBA) world heavyweight title in September 2003. After this win, in December 2003, the chair of the IBF/USBA office had written to Scieszinski, with a copy to Goodman, stating Fields' mandatory defense of his title was due by September 2, 2004, and suggesting Akiwande was the leading available contender. The Akiwande/Fields bout was not scheduled, however, because Fields had suffered an injury in late spring 2004 and was unable to fight. There was no discussion of Capital's promotional rights in Fields during this phone conversation.

In the fall of 2004, Scieszinski spoke with Don King personally via telephone. Scieszinski informed King that Capital had a promotional rights contract with Fields and was not interested in sharing its rights with King or King Productions. Capital does not contend this call was initiated by King.

[756 N.W.2d 832] In January 2005, King Productions employee Botcher placed a telephone call to a Capital fighter, Josh Gutcher, who was in Iowa at the time. Botcher offered Gutcher a fight through King Productions and mentioned King Productions was involved in negotiations for a February 2005 fight with another Capital fighter, Tye Fields. Gutcher rejected the offer, telling Botcher he was a Capital fighter, as was Fields, and Botcher would have to speak to Scieszinski regarding any fights.

After Gutcher talked to Botcher, Gutcher called Scieszinski and told Scieszinski of the conversation. Scieszinski then called King Productions employee Goodman and informed Goodman that Capital was the exclusive promoter for Fields and Gutcher and that any attempts to offer either man a fight would be viewed as an interference with Capital's promotional rights agreements with those fighters.

In February 2005, Scieszinski arranged a fight between Fields and Vaughan Bean to take place on February 25, 2005, in Kansas City. The proposed fight was canceled, however, after King Productions and Baxter, Fields' manager, arranged a February 5, 2005 boxing bout between Fields and Ray Luncsford in St. Louis. The record shows Baxter had approached Don King in Las Vegas, Nevada, with a request to put Fields on the undercard of the Spinks v. Judah II event being promoted by King Productions and scheduled to take place in St. Louis on February 5, 2005. King agreed to do so, and on February 3, 2005, in St. Louis, Missouri, Fields signed a bout agreement for the February 5 fight. In that agreement, he represented that he was not under contract with any other promoter. There is no evidence in the record showing that any communication regarding this bout agreement occurred in the state of Iowa.

On April 7, 2006, Capital filed this action against King Productions, Don King, and Baxter, alleging they intentionally interfered with its contractual relationship with Fields. Subsequently, King Productions filed a motion for summary judgment, asserting the Iowa district court lacked personal jurisdiction over it and that an exercise of jurisdiction by the Iowa court would violate due process. Capital resisted. After a hearing, the district court granted King Productions' motion for summary judgment.

Capital filed this appeal. As noted earlier, the court of appeals affirmed the district court's ruling. We then granted Capital's application for further review.

II. Scope of Review.

King Productions raised the issue of personal jurisdiction in a motion for summary judgment, rather than by a motion to dismiss. The parties submitted this issue to the district court and on appeal under the principles governing motions for summary judgment, including the rule that the facts are viewed in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, Capital. See Kelly v. Iowa Mut. Ins. Co., 620 N.W.2d 637, 641 (Iowa 2000).

Ordinarily, however, issues of personal jurisdiction are raised in a motion to dismiss, and the district court would make the necessary factual findings to determine whether the court had personal jurisdiction over the defendant. See Bankers Trust Co. v. Fidata Trust Co. N.Y., 452 N.W.2d 411, 413 (Iowa 1990) (stating "the hearing and disposition of a motion involving personal jurisdiction is a special proceeding requiring [the district court] to find facts and draw conclusions of law in its decision"). See generally Archangel Diamond Corp. v. Lukoil, 123 P.3d 1187, 1192-93 (Colo. 2005) (discussing trial court procedure for resolving issues [756 N.W.2d 833] of personal jurisdiction). Accordingly, those findings would be binding on appeal if supported by substantial evidence. Hodges v. Hodges, 572 N.W.2d 549, 551 (Iowa 1997); Percival v. Bankers Trust Co., 450 N.W.2d 860, 861 (Iowa 1990).

Due to the manner in which the jurisdictional issue was raised in this case, the district court made no factual findings. Nonetheless, our review of the record reveals no genuine dispute with respect to the relevant facts. Therefore, we proceed to decide the legal issue: whether the undisputed facts allow personal jurisdiction over King Productions. We are not bound by the district court's application of legal principles in deciding whether personal jurisdiction is permissible. Hammond v. Florida Asset Fin. Corp., 695 N.W.2d 1, 4 (Iowa 2005).

III. Discussion.

A. Governing Principles. "The Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the federal constitution limits the power of the state to assert personal jurisdiction over a nonresident defendant to a lawsuit." Ross v. First Sav. Bank, 675 N.W.2d 812, 815 (Iowa 2004). Iowa's jurisdictional rule provides: "Every corporation, individual, personal representative, partnership or association that shall have the necessary minimum contact with the state of Iowa shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of this state. . . ." Iowa R. Civ. P. 1.306. This rule authorizes the...