{
  "id": 12168694,
  "name": "CURVCRAFT, INCORPORATED v. J.C.F. & ASSOCIATES, INCORPORATED",
  "name_abbreviation": "Curvcraft, Inc. v. J.C.F. & Associates, Inc.",
  "decision_date": "1987-02-17",
  "docket_number": "No. 8611SC547",
  "first_page": "450",
  "last_page": "452",
  "citations": [
    {
      "type": "official",
      "cite": "84 N.C. App. 450"
    }
  ],
  "court": {
    "name_abbreviation": "N.C. Ct. App.",
    "id": 14983,
    "name": "North Carolina Court of Appeals"
  },
  "jurisdiction": {
    "id": 5,
    "name_long": "North Carolina",
    "name": "N.C."
  },
  "cites_to": [
    {
      "cite": "350 S.E. 2d 111",
      "category": "reporters:state_regional",
      "reporter": "S.E.2d",
      "year": 1986,
      "opinion_index": 0
    },
    {
      "cite": "83 N.C. App. 281",
      "category": "reporters:state",
      "reporter": "N.C. App.",
      "case_ids": [
        8358429
      ],
      "year": 1986,
      "opinion_index": 0,
      "case_paths": [
        "/nc-app/83/0281-01"
      ]
    },
    {
      "cite": "326 U.S. 310",
      "category": "reporters:federal",
      "reporter": "U.S.",
      "case_ids": [
        6157001
      ],
      "weight": 2,
      "year": 1945,
      "opinion_index": 0,
      "case_paths": [
        "/us/326/0310-01"
      ]
    },
    {
      "cite": "231 S.E. 2d 629",
      "category": "reporters:state_regional",
      "reporter": "S.E.2d",
      "weight": 2,
      "year": 1977,
      "opinion_index": 0
    },
    {
      "cite": "291 N.C. 674",
      "category": "reporters:state",
      "reporter": "N.C.",
      "case_ids": [
        8558922
      ],
      "year": 1977,
      "opinion_index": 0,
      "case_paths": [
        "/nc/291/0674-01"
      ]
    },
    {
      "cite": "329 S.E. 2d 663",
      "category": "reporters:state_regional",
      "reporter": "S.E.2d",
      "year": 1985,
      "opinion_index": 0
    },
    {
      "cite": "313 N.C. 474",
      "category": "reporters:state",
      "reporter": "N.C.",
      "case_ids": [
        4724089
      ],
      "year": 1985,
      "opinion_index": 0,
      "case_paths": [
        "/nc/313/0474-01"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "analysis": {
    "cardinality": 360,
    "char_count": 6520,
    "ocr_confidence": 0.859,
    "pagerank": {
      "raw": 5.5698071932893884e-08,
      "percentile": 0.34999376411520516
    },
    "sha256": "0984702a4eaa286eff8a499aebae82cf7a2b341799ac98be6af70831c1c2fc95",
    "simhash": "1:df6f5de1104e939c",
    "word_count": 990
  },
  "last_updated": "2023-07-14T23:00:23.119892+00:00",
  "provenance": {
    "date_added": "2019-08-29",
    "source": "Harvard",
    "batch": "2018"
  },
  "casebody": {
    "judges": [
      "Judges Wells and Becton concur."
    ],
    "parties": [
      "CURVCRAFT, INCORPORATED v. J.C.F. & ASSOCIATES, INCORPORATED"
    ],
    "opinions": [
      {
        "text": "ORR, Judge.\nThe sole issue in this case is whether the trial court properly dismissed plaintiffs action for lack of personal jurisdiction. In affirming the trial court\u2019s dismissal, we hold that defendant\u2019s activities failed to meet the minimum contacts test, and therefore, exercise of jurisdiction would offend due process.\nDefendant is a Maryland corporation which markets, sells, and distributes products for commission. Plaintiff is authorized to do business in North Carolina and manufactures office chairs there. In August 1985 plaintiffs representatives, on plaintiffs initiative, visited defendant\u2019s offices in Silver Spring, Maryland. There the parties discussed a contract whereby defendant would represent and act as the local distributor for Curvcraft in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. At this meeting Curv-craft and J.C.F. representatives reached a distribution agreement which was later reduced to writing.\nSubject to this agreement, plaintiff shipped office chairs from its Dunn, North Carolina facilities to defendant\u2019s Maryland offices on three occasions. The first order was placed when Curvcraft representatives visited Maryland to enter into the distribution agreement. The order for the second shipment was made pursuant to a call from defendant\u2019s office to plaintiffs Dunn, North Carolina office. The third shipment resulted from an order placed with plaintiff at a Chicago trade show. Defendant received one commission check for chairs it sold in the contract service area. Contract performance between the parties came to a halt in November 1985.\nThe resolution of the question of in personam jurisdiction involves a two-pronged test: (1) whether North Carolina\u2019s long-arm statute permits courts in this jurisdiction to entertain the action, and (2) whether exercise of this jurisdictional power comports with due process of law. E.g., Miller v. Kite, 313 N.C. 474, 329 S.E. 2d 663 (1985); Dillon v. Funding Corp., 291 N.C. 674, 231 S.E. 2d 629 (1977).\nIn answer to the first inquiry Curvcraft contends that N.C.G.S. \u00a7 l-75.4(5)(d) justifies the assertion of jurisdiction over J.C.F. & Associates. This statute confers on our courts the authority to exercise personal jurisdiction in any action that \u201c[r]elates to goods . . . shipped from this State by the plaintiff to the defendant on his order or direction.\u201d Id. Since this issue was not contested, we conclude that a statutory basis for jurisdiction exists.\nNotwithstanding the existence of a statutory basis for jurisdiction, due process prohibits our state courts from exercising that jurisdiction unless the defendant has had certain \u201cminimum contacts\u201d with the State that satisfy \u201ctraditional notions of fair play and substantial justice.\u201d International Shoe Co. v. Washing ton, 326 U.S. 310, 90 L.Ed. 95 (1945). On facts similar to those in the case sub judice, this Court has held that such \u201cminimum contacts\u201d do not exist. Cameron-Brown Co. v. Daves, 83 N.C. App. 281, 350 S.E. 2d 111 (1986).\nIn Cameron-Brown Co., this Court upheld an order dismissing an action for lack of personal jurisdiction. The action had been instituted by a North Carolina corporation to recover unpaid insurance premiums from a South Carolina defendant. This Court\u2019s holding, that minimum contacts were insufficient, was based on the following facts: (1) defendant was a South Carolina resident; (2) the insured vehicles and equipment were located in South Carolina; (3) Cameron-Brown initiated contact with and solicited business from the defendant; (4) contract negotiations occurred in South Carolina; and (5) defendant owned no property in North Carolina nor had he ever traveled here to conduct business with Cameron-Brown. In essence defendant\u2019s only contact with North Carolina was the mailing of premium payments to Cameron-Brown\u2019s Charlotte office pursuant to the insurance contracts.\nAs was true in Cameron-Brown Co., defendant in the case sub judice is a nonresident. Similarly, plaintiff, a corporation authorized to do business in North Carolina, initiated contact with and solicited the services of defendant corporation. Contract negotiations occurred outside of this State, and the services to be performed under the contract were to occur outside North Carolina. There is no indication that defendant has ever owned property in or maintained an office in North Carolina. Defendant has never traveled to North Carolina in connection with this contract. Defendant\u2019s only contact with North Carolina in this case appears to be through phone calls, the shipment of office chairs f.o.b. Dunn, North Carolina, and receipt of one commission check.\nWe therefore hold these contacts to be insufficient to support the exercise of in personam jurisdiction. The order of the court below is\nAffirmed.\nJudges Wells and Becton concur.",
        "type": "majority",
        "author": "ORR, Judge."
      }
    ],
    "attorneys": [
      "Lawrence, Evans & Mazer, by Lawrence F. Mazer, attorney for plaintiff appellant.",
      "Maupin Taylor Ellis & Adams, P.A., by Mark S. Thomas, attorney for defendant appellee."
    ],
    "corrections": "",
    "head_matter": "CURVCRAFT, INCORPORATED v. J.C.F. & ASSOCIATES, INCORPORATED\nNo. 8611SC547\n(Filed 17 February 1987)\nProcess g 14.3\u2014 nonresident corporation \u2014insufficient contacts with N.C.\u2014 no jurisdiction in N.C.\nIn an action to recover damages for breach of contract arising out of the sale of office chairs, defendant\u2019s contacts with N.C. were insufficient to support the exercise of in personam jurisdiction where defendant was a resident of Maryland; plaintiff, a corporation authorized to do business in N.C., initiated contact with and solicited the services of defendant corporation; contract negotiations occurred outside N.C. and the services to be performed under the contract were to occur outside N.C.; there was no indication that defendant ever owned property in or maintained an office in N.C.; defendant never traveled to N.C. in connection with the contract; and defendant\u2019s only contact with N.C. in this case appeared to be through phone calls, the shipment of office chairs f.o.b. Dunn, N.C., and the receipt of one commission check.\nAppeal by plaintiff from Herring, Judge. Order entered 24 March 1986. Heard in the Court of Appeals 22 October 1986.\nPlaintiff, Curvcraft, Incorporated, instituted this action seeking money damages for breach of contract arising out of the sale of goods between the parties. Defendant, J.C.F. & Associates, Incorporated, moved the court to dismiss the action for lack of personal jurisdiction. The trial court granted defendant\u2019s motion. From the order dismissing this action plaintiff appeals.\nLawrence, Evans & Mazer, by Lawrence F. Mazer, attorney for plaintiff appellant.\nMaupin Taylor Ellis & Adams, P.A., by Mark S. Thomas, attorney for defendant appellee."
  },
  "file_name": "0450-01",
  "first_page_order": 478,
  "last_page_order": 480
}