Ex parte Rockingham Boat Club, Inc.
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REL: October 27, 2017 Notice: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the advance sheets of Southern Reporter. Readers are requested to notify the Reporter of Decisions, Alabama Appellate Courts, 300 Dexter Avenue, Montgomery, Alabama 36104-3741 ((334) 229-0649), of any typographical or other errors, in order that corrections may be made before the opinion is printed in Southern Reporter. SUPREME COURT OF ALABAMA OCTOBER TERM, 2017-2018 _________________________ 1151345 _________________________ Ex parte Rockingham Boat Club, Inc. PETITION FOR WRIT OF MANDAMUS (In re: Keith Edward Kelley, Jr. v. Rockingham Boat Club, Inc.) (Clarke Circuit Court, CV-16-900066) SHAW, Justice. PETITION DENIED. NO OPINION. Stuart, C.J., and Bolin, Parker, Murdock, Main, Wise, and Bryan, JJ., concur. Sellers, J., dissents. 1151345 SELLERS, Justice (dissenting). I respectfully dissent. A single isolated sale, in this case of a boat, even when coupled with an agreement to undertake to make minor repairs, is an insufficient basis on which to establish in personam jurisdiction. Jurisdiction depends on the nature and extent of a defendant's in-state activities. In this case, the defendant, Rockingham Boat Club, Inc., did not target Alabama or otherwise specifically direct its commercial activities toward Alabama so as to benefit from the protections afforded by Alabama's laws. For jurisdiction to exist, a defendant's activities must create a substantial nexus with Alabama; one isolated sale is not sufficient. I would issue the writ and direct the trial court to dismiss the action. 2
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