Myers v. Emery

• Decision Date: 09 August 1985
• Docket Number: No. 05-84-01098-CV,05-84-01098-CV
• Citation: 697 S.W.2d 26
• Parties: Sam B. MYERS, Jr., Appellant, v. Robert J. EMERY, Kelan Emery and Emery, McCandless, Gaitis, Bruehl & Gerstandt, A Professional Corporation, Appellees.
• Court: Texas Court of Appeals

Page 26

697 S.W.2d 26

Sam B. MYERS, Jr., Appellant, v. Robert J. EMERY, Kelan Emery and Emery, McCandless, Gaitis, Bruehl & Gerstandt, A Professional Corporation, Appellees.

No. 05-84-01098-CV.

Court of Appeals of Texas,

Dallas.

Aug. 9, 1985.

Michael V. Powell, Michael L. Dagley, Rain, Harrell, Emery, Young & Doke, Dallas, for appellees.

Mark C. Clements, Randall E. Hand, Dallas, for appellant.

Before AKIN, GUILLOT and HOWELL, JJ.

AKIN, Justice.

Sam B. Myers, Jr., appeals from an order of dismissal granting the special appearance of Robert J. Emery, Kelan Emery, and the law firm of Emery, McCandless, Gaitis, Bruehl and Gerstandt (the individual lawyers and the law firm in which they practice will be referred to as defendants or as "Emery" collectively). The question presented is whether a special appearance under TEX.R.CIV.P. 120a filed after a default judgment had been rendered was a general appearance. We hold that it was not. Likewise we hold that the trial judge did not err in setting aside the default judgment while he had plenary jurisdiction so to do. We further hold that the trial court correctly sustained Emery's special appearance because sufficient minimum contacts between the defendants and the State of Texas were lacking. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

Myers filed suit against Emery on May 24, 1983, alleging that all defendants were non-residents who had engaged in acts and conduct which violated TEX.BUS. & COM.CODE § 17.46, et seq. (Vernon 1968 and Vernon Supp.1985). Myers sought service of process pursuant to the Texas Long Arm Statute, TEX.REV.CIV.STAT.ANN. art. 2031b (Vernon 1964 and Vernon Supp.1985). On July 19, 1983, Myers obtained a default judgment against Emery for treble damages under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act plus attorneys' fees and a permanent injunction prohibiting Emery from collecting legal fees from Myers. On August 2, 1983, fourteen days after entry of the default judgment, each of the defendants filed a sworn special appearance to contest their lack of amenability to service of process. After filing these special appearances, counsel for Emery orally requested a conference with the trial judge concerning the default judgment. This request was granted and a conference was held on August 3. At the conclusion of that conference, the judge set aside the default judgment.

After limited discovery, a hearing on the special appearances was held on August 30, 1984. At the conclusion of the hearing, the trial court sustained each of the special appearances and dismissed the cause for lack of personal jurisdiction over Emery.

Myers filed a motion for reconsideration on August 22 in which he asked the trial judge to reconsider the order setting aside the default judgment. A hearing was held on Myers' motion on September 14, 1983, which was after the special appearance had been sustained and the cause dismissed. At the September 14 hearing, the trial court denied Myers' motion.

Myers argues that the trial court erred in rendering the order of dismissal because each of the defendants had entered a general appearance both by filing a special appearance and by moving the court for a new trial after entry of the default judgment. The record, however, contains no motion for new trial. In this respect, Myers contends that because TEX.R.CIV.P. 120a made no change in the rule in York v. State, 73 Tex. 651, 11 S.W. 869 (1889), aff'd, York v. State of Texas, 137 U.S. 15, 11 S.Ct. 9, 34 L.Ed. 604 (1890), concerning appearances to contest jurisdiction after judgment by non-residents before Texas courts, all appearances made after judgment has been rendered are general appearances. We cannot agree with Myers.

Rule 120a(1) states:

... a special appearance may be made by any party either in person or by attorney for the purpose of objecting to the jurisdiction of the court over the person or property of the defendant on the ground that such party or property is not amenable to process issued by the courts of this State. A special appearance may be made as to an entire proceeding or as to any severable claim involved therein. Such special appearance shall be made by sworn motion filed prior to motion to transfer venue or any other plea, pleading or motion; provided however, that a motion to transfer venue and any other plea, pleading, or motion may be contained in the same instrument or filed subsequent thereto without waiver of such special appearance; and may be amended to cure defects. The issuance of process for witnesses, the taking of depositions, the serving of requests for admissions, and the use of discovery processes, shall not constitute a waiver of such special appearance. Every appearance, prior to judgment, not in compliance with this rule is a general appearance. [emphasis added]

Thus, our question is whether Emery's special appearance filed after a default judgment was granted should be considered a general appearance under rule 120a(1) without requesting any affirmative action on the part of the trial judge. We hold that it cannot be so considered. As we read rule 120a, it does not preclude a special appearance being made after judgment nor does the rule preclude the trial judge from setting aside the default judgment on his own motion.

Nevertheless, Myers, citing Thode, In Personam Jurisdiction, Article 2031b, the Texas "Long Arm" Jurisdiction Statute, and the Appearance to Challenge Jurisdiction in Texas and Elsewhere, 42 Tex.L.Rev. 279, 317 (1964), argues that all appearances made after judgment is rendered are general appearances because Rule 120a "makes no change in the effect of appearances after judgment." Although Thode makes this statement in his article, the language in his article which follows that statement shows that Thode contemplated that the defendant would file a motion for new trial, which, of course, would be a general appearance. Thode does not address the question before us where a special appearance is filed and then the trial judge exercises his plenary power to vacate the default judgment. See Mathes v. Kelton, 569 S.W.2d 876, 878 (Tex.1978). Moreover, the trial court not only has the power but also the duty to vacate an inadvertent entry of a void judgment at any time. Bridgman v. Moore, 143 Tex. 250, 183 S.W.2d 705, 707 (1945). Of course, a judgment is void if the court rendering the judgment lacked jurisdiction of either party or of the subject matter of the litigation. Martin v. Sheppard, 145 Tex. 639, 201 S.W.2d 810, 812 (1947).

Neither is our holding precluded by Liberty Enterprises, Inc. v. Moore Transportation Company, Inc., 690 S.W.2d 570 (1985). In that case the supreme court held, in a situation where a default judgment had been rendered and where the defendant had filed a 120a special appearance and a motion for new trial, that the defendant had submitted to the trial court's general jurisdiction. In so holding, the supreme court emphasized that the defendant in its motion for new trial stated that it was "ready to try this case when it is properly set for trial" and that the defendant agreed to the trial court's order setting aside the default judgment and granting a new trial. On the other hand, in our case, no motion for new trial was filed after Emery's special appearance. Instead, the trial court set aside the default judgment on its own motion. Emery in no way invoked the trial court's general jurisdiction. Indeed, once the default had been set aside by the trial judge, it was as if no default judgment had been rendered and the trial judge was justified in sustaining Emery's special appearance and dismissing the suit.

Next, appellant argues that the trial court erred in setting aside the default judgment because Emery failed to establish any entitlement to a new trial and in granting the motion for new trial because Emery did not comply with Rules 21 and 320 of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure. We cannot agree. An order setting aside a default judgment and granting a new trial, within the period when the trial court has plenary power over its judgment, is not subject to review either by direct appeal from that order or from a final judgment rendered after further proceedings in the trial court. Cummins v. Paisan Construction Co., 682 S.W.2d 235, 236 (Tex.1984); Burroughs v. Leslie, 620 S.W.2d 643, 644 (Tex.Civ.App.--Dallas 1981, writ ref'd n.r.e.).

Myers also argues that the trial court erred in entering the order of dismissal for the reason that Emery had sufficient minimum contacts with Texas to satisfy due process requirements for personal jurisdiction. The relevant facts are not disputed.

In 1982, Myers, a Texas resident, was sued in a lawsuit styled Ricks Exploration Co. v. Myers in the United States District court for the Western District of Oklahoma, at Oklahoma City. The plaintiff in that suit, Ricks Exploration Co., was an Oklahoma-based oil and gas exploration company. No Texas lands were involved in the Ricks suit nor did the Ricks suit present any question of Texas law.

Myers contacted Robert Emery, whom he had never met but who had been recommended to him by Jack Roach, a Dallas attorney, to be his Oklahoma lawyer. Myers telephoned Robert Emery to obtain an appointment to meet with him in Oklahoma City. Myers met with Robert Emery and Kelan Emery at their law firm's offices in Oklahoma City in early 1982. At that meeting, Myers, Robert Emery, and Kelan Emery discussed the Ricks litigation and the hourly rate charged by the law firm. Either at the meeting in Oklahoma City or during the course of a telephone call from Oklahoma City several days later, Robert Emery agreed to represent Myers in the Ricks suit.

Trial of the Ricks case was in Oklahoma City. The United States District Court ruled against Myers and awarded judgment against him in the amount of $300,000.00. Emery charged Myers the sum of $300.00 per hour for legal services performed by Emery. At the time of...