Preview:

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MARYLAND JULIA R. TYLER, et al. v. GAINES MOTOR LINES, INC. * * * Civil No. JFM-02-1975 * * * *****

MEMORANDUM Plaintiffs, Julia R. Tyler and Christopher Willis, filed suit in this court based on diversity of citizenship seeking compensation for injuries sustained in a traffic accident that took place in North Carolina. Gaines Motor Lines, Inc. ("Gaines"), a North Carolina corporation, owns the tractor-trailer that allegedly caused the accident. Gaines has filed a motion to dismiss, or in the alternative, to transfer the case to the Western District of North Carolina, based on lack of personal jurisdiction in Maryland. For the reasons set forth below, I will grant defendant's motion to transfer this case to the Western District of North Carolina. I. On August 3, 2000, plaintiffs Tyler and Willis were driving a vehicle that was struck by a tractor-trailer owned by Gaines. The accident took place on North Carolina Route 191 in Asheville, North Carolina. Both plaintiffs were working for the summer at the Pigsah Inn in North Carolina, but provided identification documents indicating permanent residence in Florida. After receiving initial medical treatment in North Carolina, plaintiffs eventually moved to Maryland, where they continued to receive treatment for the injuries suffered in the crash. Gaines is a motor carrier for hire authorized by the United States Department of

Transportation to operate in the forty-eight continental states. It is regularly engaged in the transportation of textiles along the eastern seaboard, having terminals in the Carolinas, Virginia, Rhode Island, and New Jersey. Gaines's trucks frequently travel through Maryland, but it has only two customers within the state. It characterizes the pickups and deliveries for these two customers to be sporadic in nature and relatively insignificant, averaging 1.5 pickups/deliveries per week over the year (out of 3400 pickups/deliveries accomplished per week by Gaines). Gaines avers that it does not actively pursue business within Maryland.1 Gaines did, however, log 119,000 miles on the highways of Maryland in 2000 and 126,000 miles in 2001 (out of 9,944,951 total miles and 10,877,851 total miles for those years respectively). Gaines is not registered to do business within the State of Maryland, but has a registered agent for service of process pursuant to its operating authority under federal law and U.S. Department of Transportation regulations. Gaines does not purchase fuel permits from or pay fuel tax directly to Maryland, nor does it register or garage any of its equipment within the state. Finally, Gaines has no employees within the State of Maryland. II. Personal jurisdiction over the defendant for an out-of-state tort claim must be established by the state's long-arm statute and comport with the constitutional requirements of due process. See Blue Ridge Bank v. Veribanc, Inc., 755 F.2d 371, 373 (4th Cir. 1985). Because Maryland's long-arm statute has been construed as co-extensive with the parameters of the Due Process
1

Plaintiffs dispute this claim. A private investigator working for the plaintiffs, portraying himself as a potential new client, managed to get Gaines sales representatives to affirm they would be willing to transport goods from Maryland. Gaines, however, did not solicit this business. Thus, it does not prove Gaines actively pursues business in the state. Moreover, a minimum contacts analysis is based on current contacts, not potential future ones. 2

Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, the inquiries meld into one. See Ellicott Machine Corp. v. John Holland Party Ltd., 995 F.2d 474, 477 (4th Cir. 1993); Geelhoed v. Jensen, 352 A.2d 818, 821 (Md. 1976) (construing Maryland's long-arm statute). Absent the defendant's consent, a Maryland court has personal jurisdiction over a defendant who is or may be considered present within the state. See ALS Scan, Inc. v. Digital Serv. Consultants, Inc., 293 F.3d 707, 711 (4th Cir. 2002) (explaining the terms `present' and `presence' are used merely to symbolize those activities of a corporation which will be sufficient to satisfy the demands of due process); ESAB Group, Inc. v. Centricut, Inc., 126 F.3d 617, 623 (4th Cir. 1997) (explaining the minimum contacts analysis has developed as a surrogate for presence). Under International Shoe and its progeny, a corporate defendant may be considered "present" if the corporation has purposively directed its activities toward the state and it has minimum contacts with the state sufficient to allow the exercise of jurisdiction to comport with "traditional notions of fairplay and substantial justice." See International Shoe Co. v. Washington, 326 U.S. 310, 316 (1945). While one contact with the forum state may suffice to maintain personal jurisdiction over a defendant on a claim specifically related to that contact, the contacts must be extensive, continuous, and systematic in order to exercise general personal jurisdiction

Download Julia R. Tyler, et al. v Gaines Motor Lines, Inc..pdf

Maryland Law