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Allen v. Allen6/8/1995
event Mr. Allen from deposing a representative of the brokerage firm in Maryland. The judge therefore denied appellant's motion to dismiss, as well as her motion for a protective order. After the court also denied her motion for reconsideration, appellant filed a timely appeal to this Court. We issued an order staying the decision of the circuit court pending our decision in this matter.
Discussion
I.
Appellant's first assignment of error concerns the failure of the circuit court to grant her motion to dismiss appellee's Notice of Deposition for Perpetuation of Evidence for lack of personal jurisdiction over appellant. Ms. Allen asserts that, because Rule 2-404(a)(2) requires a notice of deposition to include a statement that the information sought may be used in a later action, the court must be able to exercise personal jurisdiction over the party receiving notice of the deposition to the same extent as if an action had been filed. Appellee, on the other hand, contends that personal jurisdiction is not an issue in cases, such as the one sub judice, where no suit has yet been filed and appellant was provided with notice of the deposition as required by Rule 2-404.
Maryland Code Ann., Cts. & Jud. Proc. §§ 6-102 and 6-103 delineate the general limitations on a court's jurisdiction over a person. Section 6-102(a) provides that " court may exercise personal jurisdiction as to any cause of action over a person domiciled in, served with process in, organized under the laws of, or who maintains his principal place of business in the State," while, correspondingly, § 6-103(a) of the Maryland Long Arm Statute states that "if jurisdiction over a person is based solely upon this section, he may be sued only on a cause of action arising from any act enumerated in this section." (Emphasis supplied). Our reading of these statutory provisions makes clear that the maintenance of personal jurisdiction relates specifically to the capacity of one party to maintain
a suit against another. Thus, jurisdiction must be acquired over a person in order for a court to impose a personal liability or obligation upon a defendant in favor of a plaintiff. See, e.g., Altman v. Altman, 282 Md. 483, 486, 386 A.2d 766 (1978). Under the familiar due process analysis articulated in a number of Maryland and Supreme Court decisions, a defendant must have sufficient minimum contacts with the forum state so that the maintenance of a suit does not offend "traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice." See International Shoe Co. v. Washington, 326 U.S. 310, 90 L. Ed. 95, 66 S. Ct. 154 (1945); see also Camelback Ski Corp. v. Behning, 307 Md. 270, 513 A.2d 874 (1986), vacated and remanded on other grounds, 480 U.S. 901, (1987), opinion on remand, 312 Md. 330, 539 A.2d 1107, cert. denied, 488 U.S. 849 (1988).
Although the critical question regarding personal jurisdiction is whether "a defendant's connection with the forum state such that he should reasonably anticipate being haled into court there," Bahn v. Chicago Motor Club, 98 Md. App. 559, 571, 634 A.2d 63 (1993)(quoting World-Wide Volkswagen Corp. v. Woodson, 444 U.S. 286, 297, 62 L. Ed. 2d 490, 100 S. Ct. 559 (1980))(emphasis supplied), this does not mean that the same test must be met in order to serve a party with a notice of a deposition to perpetuate evidence pursuant to Rule 2-404. The constitutional standards that govern a court's exercise of personal jurisdiction over a non-re
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