Washington v. Magazzu

• Decision Date: 11 March 1987
• Parties: Warren WASHINGTON, Sr., Almana Washington, Warren Washington, Jr., Dorothy Washington, Samuel Washington, Sherrod Washington and Linda Washington, Plaintiffs-Respondents, v. Joseph A. MAGAZZU, Defendant-Respondent, and Estate of John J. Wicker, Jr., Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: New Jersey Superior Court — Appellate Division

Page 23

216 N.J.Super. 23

522 A.2d 1013

Warren WASHINGTON, Sr., Almana Washington, Warren

Washington, Jr., Dorothy Washington, Samuel

Washington, Sherrod Washington and Linda

Washington, Plaintiffs-Respondents, v. Joseph A. MAGAZZU, Defendant-Respondent, and Estate of John J. Wicker, Jr., Defendant-Appellant.

Superior Court of New Jersey,

Appellate Division.

Submitted Oct. 28, 1986.

Decided March 11, 1987.

Shanley & Fisher, Morristown, for defendant-appellant Estate of John J. Wicker, Jr. (Lorraine C. Parker, on the brief; Susan M. Sharko, on the reply brief).

Paul D. McLemore, Trenton, for plaintiffs-respondents Washington.

No brief was filed on behalf of defendant-respondent Joseph A. Magazzu.

Before Judges ANTELL, BRODY and D'ANNUNZIO.

The opinion of the court was delivered by

BRODY, J.A.D.

The question raised in this appeal is whether New Jersey courts may exercise personal jurisdiction over the estate of a Virginia lawyer ¹ in a legal malpractice action brought by New Jersey residents. The trial court determined that it had personal jurisdiction and denied the estate's motion to dismiss. We granted leave to appeal and now reverse.

Plaintiffs, residents of New Jersey, engaged defendant Joseph Magazzu, a New Jersey lawyer, to represent them in prosecuting a medical malpractice action against a Virginia medical doctor and a Virginia hospital. Plaintiffs are the surviving members of the immediate family of a young girl who was fatally injured while the family was visiting in Virginia. She had been treated in Virginia by the Virginia medical doctor and died in the Virginia hospital.

For reasons that do not appear in this record, Magazzu wrote to a particular Virginia law firm to inquire whether it would represent plaintiffs in the action. One of the firm's partners wrote back that the firm would not represent plaintiffs but recommended that Magazzu direct his inquiry to John J. Wicker, Jr., whom he described as a "former senior partner who is the only lawyer I know with the forensic ability to handle this case."

The Virginia statutory limitations period expired during the 12-month leisurely correspondence that ensued between Magazzu and Wicker. Wicker wrote Magazzu three letters. In the last, written more than two weeks after the limitations period had expired, he stated that he found no "reasonable basis on which any third party could be successfully sued as defendant." Wicker noted in that letter that when the decedent's parents, plaintiffs Warren Washington, Sr. and Almana Washington, had been to his office shortly before the limitations period had expired they "agreed with me in my opinion."

In Wicker's first letter, he asked for facts concerning the medical malpractice claims and also asked "how much money could (and would) be raised to cover the expenses of litigation (exclusive of attorneys' fees)." Magazzu supplied some facts and assured Wicker that the parents had "accumulated the sum of $1000.00 which could be deposited with you toward expenses."

In his second letter Wicker stated, "However, before any further proceedings, I would like to have a list of the names and addresses of the various parties and witnesses and also a statement of facts on which I could reasonably expect to obtain a plaintiff's judgement [sic ]." (Emphasis in original.) Four months before the limitations period expired, Magazzu responded with a letter in which he provided Wicker with additional information and warned him to be mindful of the Virginia statute of limitations. Having responded to Wicker's request, Magazzu may then have reasonably believed that Wicker represented plaintiffs in Virginia.

In his third and final letter, as previously noted, Wicker advised Magazzu that he had told the parents that they had no case.

Wicker's alleged legal malpractice is described in the pro se complaint as follows:

Co-defendant Wicker conspired with Defendant Joseph Maguzu [sic ] to permit Plaintiffs Warren Washington Sr. and Almama Washington's proposed time limitations to run.

A generous reading of that unartfully worded claim is that Wicker either undertook to represent plaintiffs and negligently failed to commence the action within the limitations period or negligently gave the impression that he represented them thereby preventing plaintiffs from obtaining other counsel in time to commence the action. We must accept these allegations as true and the claim as valid for the purposes of this appeal because the motion to dismiss was directed solely to the jurisdiction of the court, and not to the merits of the claim. Trustees Structural Steel v. Huber, 136 N.J.Super. 501, 505, 347 A.2d 10 (App.Div.1975), certif. den. 70 N.J. 143, 358 A.2d 190 (1976).

Rule 4:4-4, our "long-arm" rule, has been interpreted to permit service of process on a nonresident defendant "to the uttermost limits permitted by the United States Constitution." Avdel Corp. v. Mecure, 58 N.J. 264, 268, 277 A.2d 207 (1971). The ultimate question under the Fourteenth Amendment due-process requirement is whether the nonresident has had "minimum contacts with [the forum state] such that the maintenance of the suit does not offend 'traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice.' " International Shoe Co. v. Washington, 326 U.S. 310, 316, 66 S.Ct. 154, 158, 90 L.Ed. 95, 102 (1945) (quoting Milliken v. Meyer, 311 U.S. 457, 463, 61 S.Ct. 339, 343, 85 L.Ed. 278, 283 (1940)).

Applying that test in a particular case requires a two-step analysis. It must first be decided whether a defendant purposefully established minimum contacts within the forum state so as to have had "fair warning" that a particular activity may subject him to the jurisdiction of a foreign sovereign.

Where a forum seeks to assert specific jurisdiction over an out-of-state defendant who has not consented to suit there [footnote omitted], this "fair warning" requirement is satisfied if the defendant has "purposefully directed" his activities at residents of the forum ... and the litigation results from alleged injuries that "arise out of or relate to" those activities.... [Burger King Corp. v. Rudzewicz, 471 U.S. 462, 471-474, 105 S.Ct. 2174, 2181-2183, 85 L.Ed.2d 528, 540-541 (1985) (citations omitted) ]

....

Thus where the defendant "deliberately" has engaged in significant activities within a State ... or has created "continuing obligations" between himself and residents of the forum, ... 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. [Id., 471 U.S. at 475, 105 S.Ct. at 2184, 85 L.Ed.2d at 543 (citations omitted) ]

Wicker's letters directed to Magazzu, the disclosed agent of New Jersey residents, constituted activities by Wicker "purposefully directed ... at residents" of New Jersey and "the litigation results from alleged injuries that arise out of or relate to those activities." Moreover, Wicker's second letter allegedly "created continuing obligations between himself and residents" of New Jersey. Assuming for now the validity of plaintiffs' claim, that letter could be interpreted to mean that if Magazzu supplies certain information Wicker will be plaintiffs' lawyer in the Virginia matter. Magazzu responded with the information and therefore had reason to believe that a relationship involving continuing obligations between plaintiffs and Wicker had thereby been established. We conclude that Wicker purposefully established minimum contacts within New Jersey and thus plaintiffs have successfully negotiated the first step in the analysis.

Wicker directed his New Jersey activities toward being hired by the Washingtons to perform services for them in Virginia. As we will point out in our discussion of the second step, the fact that the object of Wicker's New Jersey contacts was to perform services exclusively in Virginia is a factor that outweighs the ultimate jurisdictional significance of the New Jersey contacts. The New Jersey contacts were nevertheless deliberate and purposeful, not "fortuitous and attenuated" as our concurring colleague concludes, and thereby qualify to satisfy the first step of the analysis.

The second step is described in Burger King as follows:

Once it has been decided that a defendant purposefully established minimum contacts within the forum State, these contacts may be considered in light of other factors to determine whether the assertion of personal jurisdiction would comport with "fair play and substantial justice.".... Thus courts in "appropriate case[s]" may evaluate "the burden on the defendant," "the plaintiff's interest in obtaining convenient and effective relief," "the interstate judicial system's interest in obtaining the most efficient resolution of controversies," and the shared interest of the several States in furthering fundamental substantive social policies. ".... [W]here a defendant who purposefully has directed his activities at forum residents seeks to defeat jurisdiction, he must present a compelling case that the presence of some other considerations would render jurisdiction unreasonable.... Nevertheless, minimum requirements inherent in the concept of "fair play and substantial justice" may defeat the reasonableness of jurisdiction even if the defendant has purposefully engaged in forum activities. [Id., 471 U.S. at 476-478, 105 S.Ct. at 2184, 85 L.Ed.2d at 543-544 (citations omitted) ]

We are satisfied that defendant has presented a compelling case that those factors render unreasonable the exercise of jurisdiction over it in New Jersey. It would be a burden on all parties if the dispute were adjudicated in New Jersey rather than in Virginia. Plaintiffs' underlying claims were against a Virginia medical doctor and a Virginia hospital for medical malpractice that allegedly...