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Ex parte Puccio9/9/2005
bama's long-arm rule, Rule 4.2, Ala. R. Civ. P., "extends the personal jurisdiction of Alabama courts to the limits of due process under the federal and state constitutions." Elliott v. Van Kleef, 830 So. 2d 726, 729 (Ala. 2002). A party's contacts with the forum state can be either general or specific.
"'General contacts, which give rise to general personal jurisdiction, consist of the defendant's contacts with the forum state that are unrelated to the cause of action and that are both "continuous and systematic." Helicopteros Nacionales de Colombia, S.A. v. Hall, 466 U.S. 408, 414 n. 9, 415, 104 S.Ct. 1868, 80 L.Ed. 2d 404 (1984)[citations omitted]. Specific contacts, which give rise to specific jurisdiction, consist of the defendant's contacts with the forum state that are related to the cause of action. Burger King Corp. v. Rudzewicz, 471 U.S. 462, 472-75, 105 S.Ct. 2174, 85 L.Ed. 2d 528 (1985). Although the related contacts need not be continuous and systematic, they must rise to such a level as to cause the defendant to anticipate being haled into court in the forum state. Id.'"
Elliott, 830 So. 2d at 730.
In Thames v. Gunter-Dunn, Inc., 373 So. 2d 640 (Ala. 1979), this Court held that officers of an out-of-state bank, who had never been in Alabama and who had conducted no personal business either through the use of the corporation as an alter ego or through personal agents in this state, were not subject to the jurisdiction of Alabama courts. With regard to the alter-ego theory, the Court stated:
"In this case there was no allegation that the corporate entity was a sham or a facade intended only to protect the individual appellees. Nor was there a showing that the appellees engaged in any business for personal gain or profit or any transaction which was outside the scope of their employment with the bank. Thus the corporation could not be said to have acted as an agent of the individual appellees so as to become their alter egos and to warrant personal jurisdiction over them."
373 So. 2d at 642.
Ex parte Sekeres, 646 So. 2d 640 (Ala. 1994), involved a wrongful- death action brought against Physicians Weight Loss Centers of America, Inc., and Charles Sekeres, its president, chief executive officer, and sole shareholder. Sekeres had been to Alabama two or three times to visit a franchisee for Physicians Weight Loss Centers, and Sekeres sought a writ of mandamus ordering the trial court to dismiss him from the wrongful-death action on the basis that the trial court lacked personal jurisdiction over him. Sekeres argued that he had developed and marketed the diet program as an officer of the corporation and that there was insufficient evidence for the court to impose liability on him individually. The plaintiff argued that there had been insufficient discovery for her to determine whether the corporation was a sham and "so controlled [by Sekeres] as to be merely an instrumentality of Sekeres." 646 So. 2d at 642. The plaintiff argued that Sekeres had sufficient contacts with Alabama; her complaint clearly alleged that the defendants had fraudulently misrepresented the degree of physician participation in the weight-loss program and that the decedent had participated in the program in reliance on that misrepresentation. This Court held that Sekeres had not shown a clear right to be dismissed from the action for lack of personal jurisdiction.
In their amended complaint, the Grants state that Puccio established Cambridge Credit as a 26 U.S.C. ยง 501(c)(3) nonprofit entity. They allege that through national radio advertising Cambridge Credit aggressively marketed itself as a nonprofit entity dedicated to assisting consumers who are
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