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State ex rel Ford Motor Co. v. Manners5/10/2005
Plaintiff served an employee of Ford Motor Company with process in Jackson County. Because the employee was not "an officer, partner, a managing or general agent," Ford was not "found" in Jackson County and venue is not proper under section 508.010(1). See sec. 506.150. The preliminary writ of prohibition is made absolute.
I. Facts and Procedure
This lawsuit arose from a car accident that occurred in Chariton County, Missouri, involving a 2000 Ford Windstar. Plaintiff, Rusty Herring, brought suit on behalf of his children, who were passengers in the van. Mr. Herring is a resident of Jackson County, Missouri. There are two defendants: Mr. Danny Baker, the representative for the estate of the van's driver, and Ford Motor Company, the manufacturer of the van. Mr. Baker eventually agreed to venue in Jackson County, but Ford did not. Ford is a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in Detroit, Michigan, and maintains its registered agent in Saint Louis County, Missouri.
Mr. Herring filed suit in Jackson County. He served Roger Burnett, an employee of Ford Motor Company, with a copy of the petition and summons at the Jackson County Courthouse in Independence, Missouri. Mr. Burnett is a design analysis engineer for Ford and often testifies in product liability trials for Ford. That is why he was at the courthouse in Jackson County.
Ford argues that section 508.010(1) of the general venue statute only applies to cases involving a single defendant. Ford also maintains that even if section 508.010(1) applied to multiple defendants, the company has not been "found" in Jackson County as required by 508.010(1).
II. General Venue Statute
"Venue is determined solely by statute." State ex rel. Doe Run Res. Corp. v. Neill, 128 S.W.3d 502, 507(Mo. banc 2004). "The primary purpose of Missouri's venue statutes is to provide a convenient, logical and orderly forum for the resolution of disputes." State ex rel. Elson v. Koehr, 856 S.W.2d 57, 59 (Mo. banc 1993).
Section 508.010 embodies the current general venue statute and provides, in relevant part:
Suits instituted by summons shall, except as otherwise provided by law, be brought:
(1) When the defendant is a resident of the state, either in the county within which the defendant resides, or in the county within which the plaintiff resides, and the defendant may be found;
(2) When there are several defendants, and they reside in different counties, the suit may be brought in any such county . . . .
Ford argues that subdivision (2) is the exclusive venue provision for cases with multiple resident defendants. This argument is not addressed because Ford was not "found" in Jackson County and subdivision (1) could not provide venue.
Section 508.010(1) provides two locations in which resident defendants may be sued. First "in the county within which that defendant resides" or second, "in the county within which the plaintiff resides, and the defendant may be found." Plaintiff rests his argument for venue in Jackson County upon the fact that service of process was made upon Mr. Burnett, an employee of Ford who was found in Jackson County.
Plaintiff is correct to the extent that the term "found" in section 508.010 requires effective service of process. See State ex rel. Bartlett v. McQueen, 238 S.W.2d 393, 395 (Mo. banc 1951) (overruled on other grounds); State ex rel. Lineback v. Williams, 787 S.W.2d 334, 337 (Mo. App. 1990) ("original actions involving a plaintiff and defendant who are both residents of Missouri may be brought . . . in the county of residence of the plaintiff if servi
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