Aly v. Hanzada for Import & Export Co., No. 16-3353 (8th Cir. 2017)
Annotate this CaseHanzada, an Egyptian company that imports and exports beef, appealed the jury verdict and judgment against it on plaintiff's breach of contract claim. The district court relied on the Seventh Circuit's widely adopted Sadat v. Mertes rule that only the American nationality of the dual citizen should be recognized for purposes of 28 U.S.C. 1332(a). The court concluded that the district court properly found diversity jurisdiction because plaintiff was a U.S. citizen and his Egyptian citizenship did not defeat jurisdiction. The court also concluded that the district court properly exercised personal jurisdiction over Hanzada where there was sufficient minimum contacts with Missouri for the Missouri long-arm statute to authorize personal jurisdiction. Finally, the district court properly found the statute of frauds inapplicable in this case where, under Missouri law, an oral contract for an indefinite period of time does not violate the statute of frauds. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment.
Court Description: Benton, Author, with Smith, Chief Judge, and Gruender, Circuit Judge] Civil case - Civil procedure. Plaintiff, a U.S. citizen domiciled in Ohio, is a citizen of a state and defendant, a citizen of Egypt, is a citizen of a foreign state and these facts created diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1332(a); plaintiff's dual citizenship did not defeat jurisdiction; there were sufficient contacts with Missouri to permit the constitutional exercise of Missouri's long-arm statute; the district court did not err in rejecting defendant's statute of frauds defense as the parties' oral contract for indefinite period of time does not, under Missouri law, violate the statute. [ March 22, 2017
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