JURISDICTION — SHOULD THE JURISDICTIONAL ANALYSIS REMAIN STAGNANT IN THE FACE OF THE MODERN EXPANSION OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE CONDUCTED WITHIN THE U.S.? HMS AVIATION V. LAYALE ENTERPRISES, S.A.

摘要

Courts have reformed their approach to exercising jurisdiction over foreign defendants in order to keep up with the increase in commerce and personal mobility in the twentieth century. Current jurisdictional analysis is based on the overarching concept of fairness to the defendant. Modern courts have grounded this concept in the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which prohibits any state from depriving any person of "life, liberty, or property without due process of law." In HMS Aviation v. Layale Enterprises, S.A., the Fort Worth Court of Appeals invoked these principles in declining to exercise jurisdiction. The court held that the defendant's contacts with Texas were insufficient, despite the fact that the property in dispute was physically in the state. In reaching this decision, the court failed to give adequate weight to the defendant's purposeful availment of the protection of the laws of the State of Texas. The court also neglected to recognize Texas' interest in adjudicating the dispute, as well as the lack of an adequate alternative forum. This decision effectively allows a defendant to convert the property of another, bring that property into Texas, and use the laws of Texas to its advantage with- out making itself, or the property subject to the jurisdiction of Texas.