 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Cooper v. Chevron U.S.A.6/4/2002
preclude non-residents from serving as statutory agents for venue purposes. Id. Accordingly, the Court held that "a foreign corporation must appoint a domestic corporation or an individual actually residing in New Mexico in order to receive the benefit of the special venue provisions of Section 38-3-1(F)." Id. 31. We disagree.
The Court of Appeals failed to properly weigh NMSA 1978, ยง 53-17-9 (1967), which was enacted after Section 38-3-1, and which explicitly authorizes the appointment of a non-resident statutory agent. We presume that when the Legislature decided to unconditionally allow non-residents to serve as statutory agents, it was aware of existing law. See State ex rel. Human Servs. Dep't (In re Kira M.), 118 N.M. 563, 569, 883 P.2d 149, 155 (1994). Consequently, in light of the enactment of Section 53-17-9, foreign corporations that have appointed a foreign corporation as their statutory agent, may "receive the benefit of the special venue provisions of Section 38-3-1(F)." Cooper, 2000-NMCA-100, 31.
2. Whether CT and Prentice Hall "reside" in Santa Fe County for purposes of venue
Section 38-3-1(F) provides that:
suits against foreign corporations admitted to do business and which designate and maintain a statutory agent in this state upon whom service of process may be had shall only be brought [(1)] in the county
where the plaintiff, or any one of them in case there is more than one, resides or [(2)] in the county where the contract sued on was made or is to be performed or [(3)] where the cause of action originated or indebtedness sued on was incurred or [(4)] in the county where the statutory agent designated by the foreign corporation resides. (Emphasis added.)
In the present case, the parties do not dispute that the Defendants in question are foreign corporations admitted to do business in New Mexico. The issue at bar is whether Plaintiffs may place venue in Santa Fe County where the statutory agents designated by the foreign corporations reside, when the statutory agents themselves are non-residents.
Resolution of this issue requires us to define "resides" as it applies to statutory agents who are foreign corporations under Section 38-3-1(F). Using our definition of "non-resident" from Aetna Finance Co., Defendants claim that the statutory agents in the present case do not reside in New Mexico and that venue cannot, therefore, be placed where the statutory agent resides. Defendants argue that venue is proper only in Lea County where Plaintiffs reside and where the cause of action originated. Even though Aetna Finance Co. contains language in support of Defendants' position, it is distinguishable from the present case. In that case, the foreign corporation was suing a domestic defendant. The plaintiff corporation had offices in Albuquerque and sought venue in Bernalillo County under Section 38-3-1(A). This Court looked to subsection (F) to determine whether Aetna "reside " in Bernalillo County for venue purposes. We ultimately held that it did not. In so holding, this Court employed broad language that we today limit. In the present dispute, the foreign corporations are defendants and we therefore look not to subsection (A), but rather to subsection (F), to determine what venue is proper. To the extent that Aetna Finance Co. can be read to hold that foreign corporations can never "reside" in New Mexico for venue purposes under subsection (F), it is overruled.
We next look to the language of Section 38-3-1(F) to determine if CT and Prentice Hall "reside" in Santa Fe for purposes of venue. The meaning of language used in a statute is a question of law that we review de novo. State v. Ro
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 New Mexico Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|