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Ex parte Haynes downard Andra & Jones7/29/2005
Petition for rehearing denied September 30, 2005
PETITION FOR WRIT OF MANDAMUS
Haynes Downard Andra & Jones, LLP ("the partnership"), and Lewis F. Jones, one of its partners (hereinafter jointly referred to as "Haynes Downard"), defendants in an action pending in the Jefferson Circuit Court, petition for a writ of mandamus directing the Bessemer Division of the Jefferson Circuit Court (1) to sever the claims filed against Haynes Downard from claims filed against other defendants and (2) to transfer those claims, once severed, to the Birmingham Division of the Jefferson Circuit Court. We grant the petition and issue the writ.
Facts and Procedural History
The action underlying this petition comprises 17 claims filed by 5 plaintiffs against 15 defendants. The partnership and Jones are 2 of the 15 defendants. The partnership is a Birmingham accounting firm organized as a limited liability partnership, composed of four partners, including Jones. The action was filed by RockSolid Industries, LLC, and its four incorporators (hereinafter collectively "RockSolid").
The incorporators formed RockSolid Industries in order to purchase the assets of Grasselli Concrete Products Company ("Grasselli"), which manufactured colored concrete blocks. Grasselli's plant is located in Bessemer. Before the purchase, during the performance of their due-diligence investigation, the incorporators began collecting data from various parties concerning Grasselli's financial condition. To this end, the incorporators obtained permission to speak with Jones concerning the partnership's assessment, done at the request of another party, of Grasselli's financial condition. On September 13, 2001, after deciding to purchase Grasselli's assets, the incorporators organized RockSolid Industries; its principal place of business was located in Bessemer. Fifteen days later, on September 28, RockSolid Industries purchased Grasselli's assets. For a variety of reasons not currently before us, however, RockSolid Industries ultimately failed.
RockSolid's complaint first alleges that the partnership and Jones fraudulently misrepresented Grasselli's financial health in financial statements they prepared and that the incorporators relied on the financial statements to their detriment. RockSolid Industries' complaint further alleges that, in the midst of RockSolid Industries' collapse, Jones and the partnership made additional fraudulent misrepresentations to RockSolid, this time concerning the operating capital that would be needed to sustain the business. By September 2003, RockSolid Industries' collapse was complete; it ceased doing business, laid off its remaining employees, and closed its doors.
According to an affidavit subscribed and sworn to by Jones, the truth of which the plaintiffs do not challenge, all allegations of misrepresentations by Jones individually or acting on behalf of the partnership made by RockSolid in its complaint stem from events occurring solely within the Birmingham Division of Jefferson County. Specifically, Jones states that all communication with the incorporators and RockSolid Industries after it was incorporated, as well as the generation of all financial data that was communicated to them, occurred from Haynes Downard's office located in downtown Birmingham. The only event that transpired within the Bessemer Division was "field work" at Grasselli's plant in Bessemer, and it entailed no communications with RockSolid.
On April 23, 2004, RockSolid sued the partnership, Jones, and the 13 additional defendants in the Bessemer Division of the Jefferson Circuit Court. Beyond the allegations detailed above, RockSolid specifically
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