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Plaintiff Cannot Be the Only Link between the Defendant and the Forum/Defendant’s “Minimum Contacts” with New York Not Demonstrated

The Second Department determined New York courts did not have subject matter jurisdiction in an action against a Texas physician who had treated plaintiff’s late mother when she resided in Texas and Florida.  The court explained the relevant analysis:

Where a motion is made to dismiss an action for lack of personal jurisdiction, it is the plaintiff who bears the ultimate burden of proving a basis for such jurisdiction … . A plaintiff relying on CPLR 302(a)(3)(ii) “must show that (1) the defendant committed a tortious act outside New York; (2) the cause of action arose from that act; (3) the tortious act caused an injury to a person or property in New York; (4) the defendant expected or should reasonably have expected the act to have consequences in New York; and (5) the defendant derived substantial revenue from interstate or international commerce” … . Once those elements are met, an assessment must then be made as to whether a finding of personal jurisdiction satisfies due process … .

Here, the plaintiff failed to establish that the defendant’s alleged tortious act — prescribing medication in Texas to the plaintiff’s mother while she was in Texas and in Florida — caused injury in New York … . Moreover, under the circumstances, the plaintiff failed to establish that the defendant expected or should reasonably have expected the act to have consequences in New York, or that the defendant “derive[d] substantial revenue from interstate . . . commerce” (CPLR 302[a][3][ii]). In addition, the plaintiff failed to establish that the defendant had the requisite “minimum contacts” with New York such that the prospect of defending a suit here comported with “traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice,” as required by the Federal Due Process Clause … .

On February 25, 2014, the Supreme Court of the United States rendered a decision refining the “minimum contacts” analysis set forth in International Shoe Co. (see Walden v Fiore, _____ US _____, 134 S Ct 1115). The Supreme Court determined that a “plaintiff cannot be the only link between the defendant and the forum. Rather, it is the defendant’s conduct that must form the necessary connection with the forum State that is the basis for its jurisdiction over him” (id. at 1122). Moreover, the Supreme Court held that, “[d]ue process requires that a defendant be haled into court in a forum State based on his own affiliation with the State, not based on the random, fortuitous, or attenuated’ contacts he makes by interacting with other persons affiliated with the State” … . Waggaman v Arauzo, 2014 NY Slip Op 03259, 2nd Dept 5-7-14

 

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