Fifth Circuit Issues New Decision on Personal
Transcription
Fifth Circuit Issues New Decision on Personal
WINTER 2007 Fifth Circuit Issues New Decision on Personal Jurisdiction Based on Specific Conduct of a Defendant Texas Insurance Law: The Status of Reimbursement of the Insurer by the Policyholder After Noncovered Claims are Settled The Issue of Indemnity for Component Part Manufacturers I Can Appeal Even If I am Not A Named Party?: Texas’s Virtual Representation Doctrine and What It Means to Litigants A New Look for the Texas Judiciary Texas Supreme Court Weighs In Again on Punitive Damages and Attorneys’ Fees Awards Upcoming Aviation Events Fifth Circuit Issues New Decision on Personal Jurisdiction Based on Specific Conduct of a Defendant since the owner did not expect that the lessee would Addressing what it transport the helicopter to Mississippi. characterized as a holding of The plaintiff asserted four claims against the first impression with regard designer of the helicopter platform: defective design, to specific personal failure to warn, negligence, and negligence per se. jurisdiction, the Fifth Circuit The Court, in analyzing whether jurisdiction could Court of Appeals recently be maintained over the designer, held (in what it issued its opinion in Seiferth characterized as a holding of first impression) that v. Helicopteros Atuneros, Inc., BRAD BROWN when a plaintiff alleges causes of action against a 04-05-00856-CR (5th Cir. defendant who challenges personal jurisdiction and Dec. 11, 2006), a wrongful death case filed in the asserted basis of personal jurisdiction is specific Mississippi arising out of the failure of a helicopter (as opposed to general) conduct in the forum state, external work platform during an aerial inspection the plaintiff must demonstrate specific jurisdictional of power lines. Generally, in diversity cases, in order facts as to each cause of action. Otherwise, the Court to establish personal jurisdiction a court must find wrote “[p]ermitting the legitimate exercise of specific that (1) the forum state’s long-arm statute must confer jurisdiction over personal one claim to justify jurisdiction; It would be prudent to conduct an in-depth the exercise of and (2) the jurisdictional analysis of each cause of action specific jurisdiction exercise of asserted by the plaintiff to determine which over a different jurisdiction causes of action might not satisfy the Fifth claim that does not must not Circuit’s personal jurisdiction test. arise out of or relate exceed the to the defendant’s boundaries of forum contacts would violate the Due Process the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Clause.” Consequently, upon analysis, the Fifth Circuit Amendment. Here, two defendants, the owner of found that the plaintiff ’s claims of failure to warn, the helicopter, and the designer of the work platform, negligence, and negligence per se properly invoked contested personal jurisdiction. Upon its analysis, jurisdiction because the defendant engaged in work the Fifth Circuit found that Mississippi’s long-arm testing and inspecting the platform in Mississippi statute reached both defendants. However, as for (where the accident occurred), but rejected as outside the helicopter’s owner, which had leased the helicopter the Due Process Clause’s scope of permitted personal to another entity, the Court not only found that the jurisdiction the claim of design defect since the owner did not have minimum contacts with design work took place in another state (Florida). Mississippi so as to confer jurisdiction over it, but Therefore, based on this new opinion, in cases the Court rejected the plaintiff ’s argument that by filed in Federal Court (at least in the Fifth Circuit placing the helicopter into the stream of commerce, states) where jurisdiction is based on specific conduct the owner “purposefully directed its activities at of a defendant, it would be prudent to conduct an Mississippi and thus subjected itself to the jurisdiction in-depth jurisdictional analysis of each cause of action of Mississippi courts.” While the stream of asserted by the plaintiff to determine which causes commerce theory applies to the purchase, not lease, of action might not satisfy the Fifth Circuit’s personal of products, the Court nevertheless found that the jurisdiction test. stream of commerce theory would not apply here Aviation FlyerTM is published periodically by the law firm of Jackson Walker L.L.P. to inform readers of recent developments in aviation law and related areas. It is not intended nor should it be used as a substitute for legal advice or opinion, which can be rendered only when related to specific fact situations. More information regarding Jackson Walker may be found on the Internet at www.jw.com. TRADITION AND INNOVATION SINCE 1887 © 2007 Jackson Walker L.L.P. Texas Insurance Law: The Status of Reimbursement of the Insurer by the Policyholder After Non-Covered Claims are Settled Excess Underwriters at Lloyd’s, London v. Frank’s further held that under circumstances where coverage is disputed, Casing Crew & Rental Tools, Inc., WL the insurer is presented with a reasonable settlement demand within 1252321 (Tex. May 27, 2005) is undoubtedly policy limits and the insurer funds the settlement, the insurer is the most important insurance law decision precluded from seeking reimbursement for the non-covered claims handed down by the Texas Supreme Court that were settled unless it has first obtained the policyholder’s “clear in several years because of its effect on an and unequivocal consent” to both the settlement and its right to ANDREW D. GRAHAM insurer’s reimbursement rights. The majority seek reimbursement. Id. at 135. opinion in Frank’s Casing granted insurers In Frank’s Casing, however, the Texas Supreme Court an extensive right of reimbursement against policyholders when dramatically departed from Matagorda County and declared that “a claims for which coverage is disputed are settled. Notably, the right of recoupment can arise even absent an insured’s express agreement majority opinion was authored by Justice Owen, now a member of to reimburse settlement payments made by an insurer if there is no the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. On January 6, 2006, the Texas coverage…” Frank’s Casing, WL 1252321, at *1 (emphasis added). Supreme Court granted rehearing. The Court’s opinion on rehearing More particularly, the majority held that an insurer may seek has not yet been handed down. reimbursement when the insurer has timely asserted its reservation The issue in Frank’s Casing, as framed by the Court, was whether of rights, notified the policyholder that it intends to seek certain excess insurance carriers that disputed coverage, but that reimbursement, paid to settle non-covered claims, and: (1) a settled third-party claims against their insured, were entitled to policyholder has demanded that its insurer accept a settlement offer recoup the settlement payments from their insured when it was within policy limits or (2) when an insured expressly agrees that the later determined that the claims against the settlement offer should be accepted. insured were not covered. Id. at *3. As to the first The majority opinion in Briefly stated, the facts before the Court circumstance, the majority Frank’s Casing granted were these: Frank’s Casing, the policyholder, reasoned that if a policyholder insurers an extensive right of was sued after the collapse of an offshore demands that its insurer pay a reimbursement against platform. Excess Underwriters, Frank’s settlement offer within policy policyholders when claims excess liability carrier, disputed coverage. limits, the settlement offer is for which coverage is Frank’s sent the plaintiff ’s settlement offer deemed reasonable. As to the disputed are settled. to Excess Underwriters and demanded that second, the Court explained that it pay the settlement in full or risk exposure “[a]n insured who agrees to the to liability beyond the policy limits under the Stowers doctrine. In settlement and benefits by having claims against it extinguished response, Excess Underwriters stated that it would pay the settlement cannot complain that it must reimburse its insurer if the claims amount only if Frank’s agreed that all coverage issues could be against [it] were not covered by its policy.” Id. at *5. It should also resolved at a later date. Frank’s declined. Afterwards, Excess be noted that the Court, without explanation, announced that “there Underwriters informed Frank’s that it would pay the full settlement are additional circumstances that will give rise to a right of demand and then seek reimbursement for all non-covered claims. reimbursement.” Id. at *6. The trial court entered a take-nothing judgment for Frank’s on In reaching its holding, the majority markedly concluded that a the reimbursement issue, and the court of appeals reluctantly right to reimbursement is “[i]mplied by law. It is quasi-contractual.” affirmed. Both courts concluded that the Texas Supreme Court’s Id. at *5. In so holding, the Court made clear that an insurer’s right decision in Texas Association of Counties County Government Risk to reimbursement does not have to be expressly set out in the policy. Management Pool v. Matagorda County, 52 S.W.3d 128 (Tex. 2000), In sum, at least for the time being, Frank’s Casing has dramatically which had been handed down only five years earlier, controlled the changed the legal landscape regarding an insurer’s right to recover reimbursement issue. funds expended to extinguish non-covered claims. We will provide In Matagorda County, the Court held that if no right of an update on this case once the Court issues its opinion on rehearing. reimbursement is provided for in the policy, an insurer cannot unilaterally create a reimbursement right. Id. at 131-32. The Court Andrew D. Graham is an associate in Jackson Walker’s trial and appellate sections. Mr. Graham’s practice focuses on complex commercial and tort litigation. Additionally, Mr. Graham handles appeals in both state and federal appellate courts. 2 The Issue of Indemnity for Component Part Manufacturers In General Motors Corp. and Rawson-Koenig, component part thereof in the stream of commerce.” The Court Inc. v. Hudiburg Chevrolet, Inc. and Hudiburg clarified these definitions by stating that while all manufacturers Chevrolet Holding, Inc., the Texas Supreme are also sellers, not all sellers are manufacturers. The only exception Court attempted to clarify the role of to the ability of one person being able to be classified as both a indemnity when component part seller and a manufacturer is “a wholesale distributor or retail seller manufacturers are involved. In General who completely or partially assembles a product in accordance with Motors, one plaintiff purchased a truck from the manufacturer’s instructions shall be considered a seller.” The CRYSTAL L. WORTHEN Hudiburg Chevrolet. The chassis, which was fact that the definitions cause overlap becomes important under the manufactured by General Motors, was statute because it creates a duty of indemnity for the manufacturer attached to a Rawson-Koening service bed. The bed and chassis of a component to an innocent seller/manufacturer of a finished had been attached by B&M Truck Equipment, at the direction of product for defects arising from the component part. It also creates Hudiburg. Approximately seven years later, plaintiff Seaton was a duty for the manufacturer of the finished product to indemnify an driving the vehicle when it was struck from behind by another innocent seller/manufacturer of a component part for the same loss. driver. In the accident, the trailer broke away, causing the truck’s If neither are innocent, the claims for indemnity of both will fail. If fuel systems to separate and both are innocent, the claims will offset spill fuel. The other driver each other. was killed, and another person The Court further explored what The Court wrote that “a seller who invokes the right to indemnity. The injured, by the resulting fire. has a product altered in a way that Court ultimately held that the plaintiff ’s Mr. Seaton and the estate of causes loss is not, at least in relation pleadings must “fairly allege a defect in the other driver filed suit to the manufacturer, innocent, even the component itself, not merely a defect against Hudiburg and GM, if the seller cannot be held liable to in the seller’s product of which the but did not file suit against an injured plaintiff for its conduct.” component was part.” In the instant Rawson-Koening. Hudiburg filed cross-claims for case, the plaintiffs did not specifically contribution and indemnity plead any defect in the component part. against Rawson-Koening. Hudiburg and GM both settled with the The mere reference to the service body was not enough in and of plaintiffs. Hudiburg then brought suit against GM, Rawsonitself to be considered an allegation that the service body was Koening, and B&M for indemnity under common law and §82.002 defective. Because there was no assertion by the plaintiffs that they of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code. B&M eventually considered the service body itself to be defective, the Court held filed for bankruptcy and was nonsuited. that Hudiburg was not entitled to indemnity from Rawson-Koening. The Texas Supreme Court began its opinion by distinguishing While the Court agreed with Hudiburg that merely selling a between common law and statutory indemnity. “Under common defective truck does not create independently liability, if B&M’s law, a person is entitled to indemnity for products liability only if faulty assembly of the truck caused the injuries, that fault is his liability is entirely vicarious, and he himself is not independently attributable to Hudiburg because they hired B&M to assemble the culpable. The indemnitor must be liable or potentially liable for the truck. The Court wrote that “a seller who has a product altered in product defect, and his liability must be adjudicated or admitted.” a way that causes loss is not, at least in relation to the manufacturer, With §82.002, the indemnitee must be innocent; however, to escape innocent, even if the seller cannot be held liable to an injured plaintiff the duty to indemnify, “the indemnitor must prove the indemnitee’s for its conduct.” Therefore, GM did not have a statutory or common independent culpability.” The duty under §82.002 is triggered by law duty to indemnify Hudiburg for losses that are attributable to the plaintiff ’s pleadings. Therefore, only the manufacturer of a Hudiburg, and GM was only liable at common law to the extent product claimed in plaintiff ’s petition to be defective has a duty of that GM was at fault. If Hudiburg followed GM’s instructions for indemnity. assembling the truck, GM was liable to indemnify Hudiburg for Section §82.002 defines seller and manufacturer. A seller is the loss, except for that loss which is attributable to Hudiburg. If defined as “a person who is engaged in the business of distributing Hudiburg did not follow GM’s instructions, then GM and Hudiburg or otherwise placing, for any commercial purpose, in the stream of are liable to each other for indemnity under the statute except for commerce for use or consumption a product or any component losses attributable to the other. The Court reiterated its holdings in part thereof.” Manufacturer is defined as “a person who is a earlier decisions and stated that §82.002 does not allow a finisheddesigner, formulator, constructor, rebuilder, fabricator, producer, product manufacturer to shift the burden to component-product compounder, processor, or assembler of any product or any manufacturers whose products are not related to the defects alleged component part thereof and who places the product or any by the plaintiff. Crystal L. Worthen is a graduate of Baylor University Law School and an associate in the litigation section at Jackson Walker. Ms. Worthen’s practice includes representation of airlines in personal injury matters. 3 I Can Appeal Even If I am Not a Named Party?: Texas’s Virtual Representation Doctrine and What It Means to Litigants The Texas Supreme Court recently named – party status.” 184 S.W.3d at 722. One may be entitled to determined that the Texas Court of Appeals invoke the doctrine even after the judgment being appealed has abused its discretion by refusing to let an been rendered. insurance company, not originally named as In most cases, only a party of record with the court may appeal a party, intervene under the equitable virtual a trial court’s judgment. However, if the three requirements of the representation doctrine. The facts behind the virtual representation doctrine are met, a non-named party may dispute in In re Lumbermens Mutual Casualty appeal. The Court explained that the third factor, whether there is MEGAN HONEY Company, 184 S.W.3d 718 (Tex. 2006), began an identity of interest between the entity and a named party, does with the explosion of a gas well in Louisiana, not require the exact same interest to be held by both entities. In which resulted in seven deaths. Four of the decedents were fact, the Court recognized that the position of the entity attempting employees of a company named Cudd Pressure Control, which to invoke the doctrine and the named party will have often diverged provided certain services during well-servicing procedures. The to some extent by the time the doctrine is invoked. families of these Nevertheless, the party wishing to intervene must do so in a employees brought timely fashion. In determining suit against Cudd and timeliness, a court must The virtual representation doctrine the owner of the gas examine the petition under the allows a party that is affected by a wells, Sonat Fifth Circuit’s four-factor test. judgment, but not as a named Exploration Company. The considerations under this party, to appeal the judgment even However, Cudd test are (1) the length of time after it has been rendered. Thus, refused to indemnify during which the would-be an appeal may be allowed after Sonat. Sonat’s intervenor should have known judgment by a non-named party in insurance company, of its interest in the case before certain circumstances. Lumberman’s Mutual attempting to intervene; (2) the Casualty Company, extent of prejudice that the did not provide coverage to Sonat. As a result, Sonat filed a claim existing parties may suffer as a result of the would-be intervenor’s against Cudd for indemnification. failure to apply for intervention as soon as it actually knew or should One of the issues presented to the trial court was whether Texas have known of its interest in the case; (3) the extent of prejudice or Louisiana law applied to the indemnity claim, an issue that would the would-be intervenor would suffer if intervention is denied; and potentially determine the outcome of the entire case. The court (4) the existence of unusual circumstances militating either for or concluded Texas law applied, and the case went to trial on the against a determination that the application is timely. damages issue alone. Cudd appealed the adverse verdict, and The Texas Supreme Court was careful to emphasize that Lumberman’s actually posted the appellate security. the application of this doctrine is equitable in nature and not a Cudd and Sonat then entered into an agreement whereby Cudd hard-fast rule. Therefore, a court must consider all factors that may agreed to forego any further challenge of the trial court’s choice of weigh for or against the application of the doctrine. Furthermore, law ruling, among other things. Ten weeks after Cudd filed its the tone of the Court in its opinion implies that the doctrine will appellate brief on the remaining issues, Lumberman’s asked the not be freely applied. court to intervene, or to become a party, under the virtual Nevertheless, the virtual representation doctrine is an important representation doctrine to preserve the choice of law issue. The device to be aware of and may be extremely useful to a party in court of appeals denied Lumberman’s request, and the Texas Supreme some situations. The doctrine allows a party that is affected by a Court reviewed the decision under an abuse of discretion standard. judgment, but not as a named party, to appeal the judgment even Under the virtual representation doctrine, an entity is deemed a after it has been rendered. Thus, an appeal may be allowed after party if (1) it will be bound by the judgment, (2) its privity of judgment by a non-named party in certain circumstances. Moreover, interest appears from the record before the court, and (3) there is parties must be aware of both non-named entities that may have a an identity of interest between the entity and a named party to the virtual representation argument and situations in which an entity judgment. Although an entity may have already been “deemed” a may appeal a judgment under this doctrine. Parties should be mindful party under the circumstances, it must still take “some timely, of this doctrine when determining what parties to name in a suit appropriate action [for example, a motion to intervene] to attain and whether or not to intervene at the trial court level. Megan Honey is an associate in the litigation practice group. Ms. Honey graduated from Wake Forest School of Law and has worked with the aviation practice group since joining Jackson Walker. 4 A New Look for the Texas Judiciary Whether it is a Texas Supreme Court justice or the local Justice of the Peace, every nonfederal judge in Texas must run for election: every six years for appellate judges and every four years for trial judges. Until President Reagan came into office in 1980, the majority of the judges of Dallas County and throughout BOB RUCKMAN Texas ran as Democrats. However, most of the Democratic judges were swept out of office with the Reagan landslide, and until this past November, the majority of the sitting judges in Dallas County and most of the major Texas metropolitan areas were Republican. This past November, all 42 Dallas County Republican judges that were up for re-election lost to their Democratic opponents. As a result, many highly experienced trial judges left the bench January 1, 2007. The 42 new judges are now settling in and bringing varying degrees of experience. Some have been former judges and should take no time to get up to speed, while others have little or no judicial experience and, in some cases, limited experience as trial attorneys. Many are simply not known to the attorneys who will practice in their courts. While there were some changes in judges in other major cities, nothing was as dramatic as Dallas County. Further, in the only contested race on the nine member Texas Supreme Court for this year, the Republican incumbent was successful in defeating his Democratic challenger, and the Texas Supreme Court remains Republican. For years, individuals such as former Supreme Court Chief Justice Tom Phillips and Justice John Hill have campaigned to alter the method of judicial selection in Texas, but have met with little success in the Texas legislature. Prospective judges usually affiliate with a political party in order to get elected and often must solicit campaign contributions from the same attorneys who will appear in their courts. With the recent events in Dallas County, however, it has given a new emphasis to remove the selection of judges from partisan politics and move on to some other system. While it still may be workable to elect judges in rural areas where the voters have an opportunity to actually know the judge, the system is obviously not working in our metropolitan areas where even the attorneys do not know all of the judges whose names appear on the ballot and a shift in national politics can cause an upheaval in what is considered to be a non-partisan office. Bob Ruckman heads the aviation practice group for the firm. He specializes in aviation negligence and product liability cases and has over 25 years of experience. His practice primarily involves representation of airlines, aircraft or aircraft component part manufacturers, and aviation insurers or individuals involved in aviation or related business. Texas Supreme Court Weighs In Again on Punitive Damages and Attorneys’ Fees Awards In Tony Gullo Motors v. Chapa, 04-0961 (Tex. Dec. 22, 2006), the Texas Supreme Court reviewed, among other things, whether the exemplary damages awarded to plaintiff were constitutional. The underlying claim began as a lawsuit about a car dealership’s alleged “bait and switch” tactics. However, the case BRAD BROWN ultimately developed into a suit that presented the Court with numerous issues, including the constitutional limits on an award of exemplary damages. Upon first review, the court of appeals previously halved plaintiff ’s exemplary damages award. However, the reduced exemplary damages still exceeded four times plaintiff ’s total compensatory award and was more than 17 times plaintiff ’s economic damages. After conducting a thorough analysis, the Texas Supreme Court, while finding that defendant’s conduct merited exemplary damages, concluded that the amount of punitive damages awarded to plaintiff (as reduced by the court of appeals) was unconstitutional. The Court further went on to discuss the awarding of attorneys’ fees and reaffirmed the long standing rule that if attorneys’ fees related to a claim for which no fees are legally recoverable, a plaintiff must segregate recoverable from unrecoverable fees. The Court wrote that merely having “intertwined facts [giving rise to both contract and tort claims] do not [necessarily] make tort fees recoverable; it is only when discrete legal services advance both a recoverable and unrecoverable claim that they are so intertwined that they need not be segregated.” Brad Brown is a partner in the aviation practice group. Mr. Brown’s primary practice focuses on aviation related claims, including litigating negligence, personal injury/wrongful death, product liability, toxic tort, commercial and cargo cases for domestic and international airlines, insurance companies, manufactures, business entities, and individuals in both state and federal courts. Mr. Brown also frequently handles DTPA and insurance coverage matters. 5 Upcoming Aviation Events February 22 - 23, 2007 Journal of Air Law and Commerce 41st Annual SMU Air Law Symposium Hotel Intercontinental Dallas, Texas www.smu.edu/lra/symposia/als/overview.asp April 28 - May 1, 2007 AIA 2007 Annual Conference Hyatt Grand Champions Resort & Spa Indian Wells, California www.aiaweb.org June 19 - 22, 2007 Air Race Classic www.airraceclassic.org February 28 - March 1, 2007 31st Annual FAA Aviation Forecast Conference Washington Convention Center Washington, D.C. apo.faa.gov/Conference/welcome.htm June 21, 2007 State Bar of Texas Aviation Law Section Annual Meeting Marriott River Center and Convention Center San Antonio, Texas February 29 - March 4, 2007 Lawyer Pilot’s Bar Association Winter 2007 Meeting Rancho Bernardo Inn San Diego, California www.lpba.org July 23 - 29, 2007 EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, Wisconsin www.eaa.org March 1 - 3, 2007 HELI-EXPO 2007 Orange County Convention Center Orlando, Florida www.heliexpo.com August 1 - 5, 2007 Lawyer Pilot’s Bar Association Summer 2007 Meeting Chateaux at Silver Lake Resort Park City, Utah www.lpba.org March 11 - 13, 2007 ISTAT 24th Annual Conference JW Marriott Desert Ridge Phoenix, Arizona www.istat.org Austin 100 Congress Avenue, Suite 1100 Austin, Texas 78701 (512) 236-2000 • fax (512) 236-2002 Dallas 901 Main Street, Suite 6000 Dallas, Texas 75202 (214) 953-6000 • fax (214) 953-5822 September 12 - 16, 2007 The Ninety-Nines, Inc. 2007 International Convention Omni Interlocken Resort Boulder / Denver, Colorado www.ninety-nines.org TRADITION AND INNOVATION SINCE 1887 901 Main Street Suite 6000 Dallas, Texas 75202 Fort Worth 301 Commerce Street, Suite 2400 Fort Worth, Texas 76102 (817) 334-7200 • fax (817) 334-7290 Houston 1401 McKinney Street, Suite 1900 Houston, Texas 77010 (713) 752-4200 • fax (713) 752-4221 San Angelo 301 West Beauregard, Suite 200 San Angelo, Texas 76903 (915) 481-2550 • fax (915) 481-2552 San Antonio 112 East Pecan Street, Suite 2400 San Antonio, Texas 78205 (210) 978-7700 • fax (210) 978-7790 6