Helicopteros Nacionales v. Hall, 466 U.S. 408 (1984)

Helicopteros Nacionales de Columbia v. Hall

No. 82-1127

Argued November 8, 1983
Decided April 24, 1984
466 U.S. 408

CERTIORARI TO THE SUPREME COURT OF TEXAS

Syllabus

Petitioner, a Colombian corporation, entered into a contract to provide helicopter transportation for a Peruvian consortium, the alter ego of a joint venture that had its headquarters in Houston, Tex., during the consortium’s construction of a pipeline in Peru for a Peruvian state-owned oil company. Petitioner has no place of business in Texas, and never has been licensed to do business there. Its only contacts with the State consisted of sending its chief executive officer to Houston to negotiate the contract with the consortium, accepting into its New York bank account checks drawn by the consortium on a Texas bank, purchasing helicopters, equipment, and training services from a Texas manufacturer, and sending personnel to that manufacturer’s facilities for training. After a helicopter owned by petitioner crashed in Peru, resulting in the death of respondents’ decedents -- United States citizens who were employed by the consortium -- respondents instituted wrongful death actions in a Texas state court against the consortium, the Texas manufacturer, and petitioner. Denying petitioner’s motion to dismiss the actions for lack of in personam jurisdiction over it, the trial court entered judgment against petitioner on a jury verdict in favor of respondents. The Texas Court of Civil Appeals reversed, holding that in personam jurisdiction over petitioner was lacking, but in turn was reversed by the Texas Supreme Court.

Held: Petitioner’s contacts with Texas were insufficient to satisfy the requirements of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and hence to allow the Texas court to assert in personam jurisdiction over petitioner. The one trip to Houston by petitioner’s chief executive officer for the purpose of negotiating the transportation services contract cannot be regarded as a contact of a "continuous and systematic" nature, and thus cannot support an assertion of general jurisdiction. Similarly, petitioner’s acceptance of checks drawn on a Texas bank is of negligible significance for purposes of determining whether petitioner had sufficient contacts in Texas. Nor were petitioner’s purchases of helicopters and equipment from the Texas manufacturer and the related training trips a sufficient basis for the Texas court’s assertion of jurisdiction. Rosenberg Bros. & Co. v. Curtis Brown Co., 260 U.S. 516. Mere purchases, even if occurring at regular intervals, are not enough to warrant a State’s assertion of in personam jurisdiction over a nonresident corporation in a cause of action not related to the purchases. And the fact that petitioner sent personnel to Texas for training in connection with the purchases did not enhance the nature of petitioner’s contacts with Texas. Pp. 413-419.

638 S.W.2d 870, reversed.

BLACKMUN, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which BURGER, C.J., and WHITE, MARSHALL, POWELL, REHNQUIST STEVENS, and O’CONNOR, JJ., joined. BRENNAN, J., filed a dissenting opinion, post, p. 419.