State ex rel. William Ranni Associates, Inc. v. Hartenbach

• Citation: 742 S.W.2d 134
• Decision Date: 15 December 1987
• Docket Number: No. 69380,69380
• Parties: STATE ex rel. WILLIAM RANNI ASSOCIATES, INC., Relator, v. Honorable James R. HARTENBACH, Judge, Circuit Court of St. Louis County, Respondent.
• Court: United States State Supreme Court of Missouri

Page 134

742 S.W.2d 134

STATE ex rel. WILLIAM RANNI ASSOCIATES, INC., Relator, v. Honorable James R. HARTENBACH, Judge, Circuit Court of St Louis County, Respondent.

No. 69380.

Supreme Court of Missouri En Banc.

Dec. 15, 1987.

Adrian P. Sulser, Edward S. Meyer, St. Louis, for relator.

Alan J. Agathen, Clayton, for respondent.

HIGGINS, Judge.

William Ranni Associates, Inc., a New York corporation claiming that Missouri courts cannot exercise personal jurisdiction over it, seeks a writ of prohibition to prevent Judge Hartenbach from proceeding to trial on underlying claims against Ranni. ¹ This Court issued a preliminary writ of prohibition which is now made absolute.

This proceeding arises from the resolution of a claim on a life insurance policy issued to Morris Victor, a Missouri resident who died September 23, 1981. Plaintiffs, beneficiaries under the policy, are the three children and former wife of Morris Victor. He was insured under a group life policy purchased and maintained by Thrifty Drug an Illinois corporation, where he was an employee and officer. The policy was issued by Manhattan Life Insurance Company with a face amount of $95,000. Ranni is the general agent of Manhattan Life with duties of transmitting the application from Thrifty Drug to Manhattan Life and the policy proceeds from Manhattan Life to the beneficiaries. It did not participate in the sale of the policy. Joseph Victor, a nephew of Morris Victor, was appointed executor of the estate by the will of Morris Victor. Believing himself to be the beneficiary under the policy, Joseph Victor submitted a claim for the policy proceeds. Manhattan Life determined on or about March 11, 1982, that Joseph Victor was not a policy beneficiary and so informed Ranni.

Plaintiffs subsequently filed suit contesting the will which designated Joseph Victor executor and principal beneficiary. In an effort to induce settlement of this lawsuit, Joseph Victor disclosed the existence of the Manhattan Life policy and plaintiffs' status as beneficiaries thereunder. Plaintiffs promptly submitted their claim to the policy proceeds August 31, 1983, and Manhattan Life paid the claim September 10, 1983.

Plaintiffs sued Ranni in Missouri for alleged breach of fiduciary and contractual obligations, as well as for negligent handling of the insurance policy and claim, seeking recovery for loss of use of the $95,000 benefit for the 14-month period during which payment was delayed, together with exemplary damages and attorney fees. Service on Ranni was made in New York under the provisions of the long arm statute, sections 506.500-510, RSMo 1986.

Ranni moved to quash service and dismiss the petition for lack of personal jurisdiction. Judge Hartenbach ordered the motion held in abeyance for 30 days so that plaintiffs could file jurisdictional interrogatories. Ranni claims the interrogatory answers demonstrate an absence of jurisdictional grounds. Plaintiffs claim that Ranni's interrogatory answers misrepresented its contacts with the State of Missouri. Because of this alleged misrepresentation, plaintiffs claim this Court should remand for further discovery. Even without further discovery, plaintiffs claim that sufficient contacts with Missouri have been established to satisfy the due process clause of the federal constitution and the Missouri long arm statute.

I.

Plaintiffs contend this Court should remand to the trial court to permit them to obtain additional record to support the trial court's ruling. They claim the record is incomplete because Ranni has manipulated the discovery process. Plaintiffs' interrogatories asked Ranni if it had any role in "processing the claim" of either Joseph Victor or plaintiffs on the life insurance policy in question. Ranni answered, "None." Plaintiffs assert this response is contradicted by the interrogatory responses of Manhattan Life which indicates that as "Manhattan Life's general agent, Ranni had primary responsibility for communications with Ranni's clients, in this case, Thrifty Drug." Manhattan's answers also revealed that Ranni participated in the relaying of information between its client, Thrifty Drug Company, and Manhattan Life, concerning the proceeds of the policy insuring Morris Victor's life. According to Manhattan, "Ranni's duties included receiving completed life insurance applications and forwarding them and other needed material to the home office. On the claims side, the duties included notifying the home office of the death of an insured, supplying the beneficiary or broker with claims forms, forwarding completed forms to the home office and forwarding claims checks to the broker or the beneficiary." Manhattan further states that "Ranni forwarded the death certificates and claim forms completed by Joseph Victor and Thrifty Drug Company to the home office." In addition, Manhattan states that "Ranni forwarded the check in payment of the benefits of the policy to the payee on or about September 13, 1983."

Plaintiffs claim that the term "processing the claim" includes the entire sequential procedure for handling a claim from beginning to end. Ranni argues that the term "processing the claim" involves only the decision-making process of whether to pay the claim. Thus Ranni alleges it had no part in the processing of the claim, as indicated in its interrogatory answers.

Plaintiffs claim that Ranni, by incorrectly denying that it played a role in the processing of claims, was able to avoid answering follow-up interrogatories numbered 9 and 10. They believe answers to these interrogatories may have helped establish the nature, scope and extent of Ranni's contacts with the state of Missouri. These interrogatories asked Ranni if it had assisted in processing any other claim of Manhattan Life on policies issued to Missouri residents and requested identification of all such policies. By the time plaintiffs received Ranni's interrogatory responses the 30-day discovery period had lapsed and plaintiffs were foreclosed from further discovery. When Ranni's motion to dismiss came before the trial court, after close of the discovery period, plaintiffs had no reason to challenge Ranni's interrogatory answer 8 and seek an augmentation of the record regarding Ranni's contact with this state because the motion was denied.

Since this Court granted the preliminary writ of prohibition, plaintiffs ask remand to the trial court for further discovery. They cite Se-Ma-No Electric Cooperative v. City of Mansfield, 321 S.W.2d 723, 730 (Mo.App.1959); State ex rel. McElvain v. Riley, 276 S.W. 881, 883 (Mo.App.1925); 63A Am.Jur.2d, Prohibition, section 88 (1984), for the proposition that this Court has authority on a petition for a writ of prohibition to remand to the trial court with instructions for further action.

None of the authorities cited involved prohibition where the court remanded for further discovery. In the absence of extraordinary circumstances, this Court will either make the writ absolute or quash the preliminary writ, depending on whether plaintiffs have met the burden of establishing sufficient contacts with Missouri to satisfy due process. This dispute regarding the meaning of a discovery term could not be characterized as an extraordinary circumstance. Accordingly, this Court denies plaintiffs' request for remand and will limit the inquiry to whether plaintiffs have met their burden of establishing jurisdictional contacts.

II.

Ranni contends that Judge Hartenbach exceeded his jurisdiction in denying Ranni's motion to quash and dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction. Ranni alleges it did not have sufficient minimum contacts with the state of Missouri to make it amenable to process in this state in compliance with the due process clauses of the federal and Missouri constitutions.

Prohibition is the proper remedy to prevent further action of the trial court where personal jurisdiction of the defendant is lacking. State ex rel. Boll v. Weinstein, 365 Mo. 1179, 295 S.W.2d 62 (1956).

When a defendant raises the issue of lack of personal jurisdiction, the plaintiff has the burden of pleading and proving the existence of sufficient minimum contact with a forum state to justify the exercise of jurisdiction. State ex rel. Honda Research & Development Co., Ltd. v. Adolf, 718 S.W.2d 550, 552 (Mo.App.1986). Plaintiff must prove the suit arose out of an activity covered by the long arm statute, section 506.500, RSMo 1986, and that defendant had sufficient minimum contacts with Missouri to satisfy due process requirements. Medicine Shoppe Intern., Inc. v. J-Pral Corp., 662 S.W.2d 263 (Mo.App.1983). "[D]ue process requires only that in order to subject a defendant to a judgment in personam, if he be not present within the territory of the forum, he have certain minimum contacts with it such that the maintenance of the suit does not offend 'traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice.' " State ex rel. Deere and Company v. Pinnell, 454 S.W.2d 889, 893 (Mo. banc 1970). "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 the 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." Hanson v. Denckla, 357 U.S. 235, 253, 78 S.Ct. 1228, 1239-40, 2 L.Ed.2d 1283 (1958). In judging minimum contacts, a court properly focuses on the relationship among the defendant, the forum and the litigation. Calder v. Jones, 465 U.S. 783, 788, 104 S.Ct. 1482, 1486, 79 L.Ed. 804 (1984).

Ranni contends that it is not subject to jurisdiction in Missouri courts because it conducted no purposeful activity within the state, citing State ex rel. Bank of Gering v. Schoenlaub...