Ex parte Kamilewicz

• Decision Date: 18 July 1997
• Citation: 700 So.2d 340
• Parties: Ex parte Dexter J. KAMILEWICZ, et al. (In re Daniel A. EDELMAN, et al. v. WILDMAN, HARROLD, ALLEN & DIXON, et al.). 1960890.
• Court: Alabama Supreme Court

Page 340

700 So.2d 340

Ex parte Dexter J. KAMILEWICZ, et al.

(In re Daniel A. EDELMAN, et al. v. WILDMAN, HARROLD, ALLEN & DIXON, et al.).

1960890.

Supreme Court of Alabama.

July 18, 1997.

Edward B. McDonough, Jr., Keith S. Miller, and Kevin D. Graham of Edward B. McDonough, Jr., P.C., Mobile, for petitioners.

C. Knox McLaney III and Angela L. Kimbrough of McLaney & Associates, P.C., Montgomery; and James E. Atchison and Mona Vivar of Hess & Atchison, Mobile, for respondents.

HOUSTON, Justice.

Dexter J. Kamilewicz, Gretchen L. Kamilewicz, and Martha E. Preston petition for a writ of mandamus directing the trial court to dismiss claims against them alleging malicious prosecution, breach of contract, and abuse of process. We grant the writ.

Daniel Edelman and his law firm, Edelman & Combs ("Edelman"), filed an action in the Mobile Circuit Court against the law firm of Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon ("Wildman"); each of the partners in Wildman, individually; the law firm of Schnader, Harrison, Segal & Lewis ("Schnader"); each of the partners in Schnader, individually; the Kamilewiczes; and Preston, seeking damages against all of the defendants for malicious prosecution and abuse of process. The complaint also stated a claim against the Kamilewiczes and Preston for breach of contract; and it stated a claim of tortious interference with a contract against every defendant except the Kamilewiczes and Preston. Edelman's office is in Chicago, Illinois. Wildman has its principal office in Chicago and another office in New York. Schnader has its principal office in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and other offices in New York City; Washington, D.C.; Atlanta, Georgia; Cherry Hill, New Jersey; and Harrisburg and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Kamilewiczes reside in Maine; Preston resides in Wisconsin.

This action arose out of a class action that Wildman and Schnader filed on behalf of the Kamilewiczes, Preston, and others against Edelman and others in a federal district court in Chicago ("the Kamilewicz action"). The Kamilewicz action was based on allegations that Edelman and others had engaged in wrongdoing in obtaining a substantial attorney fee award in a class action styled Hoffman, et al. v. BancBoston Mortgage Corp., et al. ("the Hoffman action"), which had been filed in the Mobile Circuit Court. The complaint in the Kamilewicz action alleged, among other things, that Edelman, who had participated as class counsel in the Hoffman action, had committed a fraud on the trial court in the Hoffman action by failing to apprise the trial court that approval of the settlement in that case would result in an out-of-pocket loss for the plaintiff class (of which the Kamilewiczes and Preston were members.) ¹ The federal district court dismissed the Kamilewicz action on the ground that it lacked subject matter jurisdiction. Edelman then filed the present action, alleging 1) that the Kamilewicz action had been filed in an improper and malicious attempt to relitigate matters that had been settled in the Hoffman action (the malicious prosecution claim); 2) that improper discovery had been attempted in the Kamilewicz action, in violation of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (the abuse of process claim); 3) that the Kamilewiczes and Preston had, by filing the Kamilewicz action, breached an agreement not to challenge the settlement reached in the Hoffman action (the breach of contract claim); and 4) that Wildman and Schnader had improperly induced the Kamilewiczes and Preston to file the Kamilewicz action (the tortious-interference-with-a-contract claim). The Kamilewiczes and Preston moved to dismiss the claims pertaining to them, arguing that the trial court lacked personal jurisdiction over them and, in the alternative, that dismissal was appropriate under Ala.Code 1975, § 6-5-430 (which requires the trial courts of this state to apply the doctrine of forum non conveniens in deciding whether to exercise jurisdiction over a cause of action accruing outside the state). The trial court denied the motion.

The requirements for personal jurisdiction over a nonresident defendant are set out in Rule 4.2(a)(2), Ala.R.Civ.P.:

"(2) Sufficient Contacts. A person has sufficient contacts with the state when that person, acting directly or by agent, is or may be legally responsible as a consequence of that person's:

"....

"(I) otherwise having some minimum contacts with this state and, under the circumstances, it is fair and reasonable to require the person to come to this state to defend an action. The minimum contacts referred to in this subdivision (I) shall be deemed sufficient, notwithstanding a failure to satisfy the requirement of subdivisions (A)-(H) of this subsection (2), so long as the prosecution of the action against a person in this state is not inconsistent with the constitution of this state or the Constitution of the United States."

Service of process under Rule 4.2(a)(2) has been held to be as far-reaching as due process permits. However, the constitutional guaranty of due process precludes a court from asserting jurisdiction over a defendant unless the defendant has sufficient contacts with the forum state. Murray v. Alfab, Inc., 601 So.2d 878 (Ala.1992). In Burger King Corp. v. Rudzewicz, 471 U.S. 462, 471-76, 105 S.Ct. 2174, 2181-84, 85 L.Ed.2d 528 (1985), the United States Supreme Court stated:

"The Due Process Clause protects an individual's liberty interest in not being subject to the binding judgments of a forum with which he has established no meaningful 'contacts, ties, or relations.' International Shoe Co. v. Washington, [326 U.S. 310, 319, 66 S.Ct. 154, 160, 90 L.Ed. 95 (1945) ]. By requiring that individuals have 'fair warning that a particular activity may subject [them] to the jurisdiction of a foreign sovereign,' Shaffer v. Heitner, 433 U.S. 186, 218[, 97 S.Ct. 2569, 2587, 53 L.Ed.2d 683] (1977) (Stevens, J., concurring in judgment), the Due Process Clause 'gives a degree of predictability to the legal system that allows potential defendants to structure their primary conduct with some minimum assurance as to where that conduct will and will not render them liable to suit,' World-Wide Volkswagen Corp. v. Woodson, 444 U.S. 286, 297[, 100 S.Ct. 559, 567, 62 L.Ed.2d 490] (1980).

"Where a forum seeks to assert specific jurisdiction over an out-of-state defendant who has not consented to suit there, this 'fair warning' requirement is satisfied if the defendant has 'purposefully directed' his activities at residents of the forum, Keeton v. Hustler Magazine, Inc., 465 U.S. 770, 774[, 104 S.Ct. 1473, 1478, 79 L.Ed.2d 790] (1984), and the litigation results from alleged injuries that 'arise out of or relate to' those activities, Helicopteros Nacionales de Colombia, S.A. v. Hall, 466 U.S. 408, 414[, 104 S.Ct. 1868, 1872, 80 L.Ed.2d 404] (1984). ...

"....

"... [T]he constitutional touchstone remains whether the defendant purposefully established 'minimum contacts' in the forum State. International Shoe Co. v. Washington, supra, at 316. Although it has been argued that foreseeability of causing injury in another State should be sufficient to establish such contacts there when policy considerations so require, the Court has consistently held that this kind of foreseeability is not a 'sufficient benchmark' for exercising personal jurisdiction. World-Wide Volkswagen Corp. v. Woodson, 444 U.S., at 295. Instead, 'the foreseeability that is critical to due process analysis ... is that the defendant's conduct and connection with the forum State are such that he should reasonably anticipate being haled into court there.' Id., at 297. In defining when it is that a potential defendant should 'reasonably anticipate' out-of-state litigation, the Court frequently has drawn from the reasoning of Hanson v. Denckla, 357 U.S. 235, 253[, 78 S.Ct. 1228, 1239-1240, 2 L.Ed.2d 1283] (1958):

" 'The unilateral activity of those who claim some relationship with a nonresident defendant cannot satisfy the requirement of contact with the forum State. The application of that rule will vary with the quality and nature of the defendant's activity, but it is essential in each case that there be some act by which the defendant purposefully avails itself of the privilege of conducting activities within the forum State, thus invoking the benefits and protections of its laws.'

"This 'purposeful availment' requirement ensures that a defendant will not be haled into a jurisdiction solely as a result of 'random,' 'fortuitous,' or 'attenuated' contacts, Keeton v. Hustler Magazine, Inc., 465 U.S., at 774; World-Wide Volkswagen Corp. v. Woodson, supra, at 299, or of the 'unilateral activity of another party or a third person,' Helicopteros Nacionales de Colombia, S.A. v. Hall, supra, at 417. Jurisdiction is proper, however, where the contacts proximately result from actions by the defendant himself that create a 'substantial connection' with the forum State. McGee v. International Life Insurance Co., [355 U.S. 220, 223, 78 S.Ct. 199, 201, 2 L.Ed.2d 223 (1957) ]; see also Kulko v. California Superior Court, [436 U.S. 84, 94, 98 S.Ct. 1690, 1698, 56 L.Ed.2d 132 (1978),] n. 7.* Thus where the defendant 'deliberately' has engaged in significant activities within a State, Keeton v. Hustler Magazine, Inc., supra, at 781, or has created 'continuing obligations' between himself and residents of the forum, Travelers Health Assn. v. Virginia, [339 U.S. 643, 648, 70 S.Ct. 927, 929-930, 94 L.Ed. 1154 (1950) ], he manifestly has availed himself of the privilege of conducting business there, and because his activities are shielded by 'the benefits and protections' of the forum's laws it is presumptively not unreasonable to require him to submit to the burdens of litigation in that forum as well.

(Emphasis in original.)

These due process requirements were recently echoed by this Court in Ex parte United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners of America, AFL-CIO...