Fiduciary Shield Doctrine Blocks Personal Jurisdiction Over Party Planning Executives

The defendants here were two executives of a California-based party-planing company that contracted in with a Texas company to throw a Super Bowl party before the 2011 Super Bowl in Dallas.  While the details on what happened at the party are unclear, the party apparently did not go well, so the plaintiff sued these two executives for breach.  After the trial court granted the defendants’ special appearance based on the fiduciary shield doctrine, the plaintiff appealed, arguing that the fiduciary shield doctrine applies only in cases where the plaintiff asserts general jurisdiction over the defendants, and here the plaintiff asserted specific jurisdiction over the executives.  The Court rejected this argument and affirmed the trial court’s decision.

Stull v. LaPlant