Minimum Contacts Missing

In Dignity Gold, LLC v. Ilmarin Group, LLC, the Fifth Court reversed the trial court’s denial of a special appearance following default judgments against two out-of-state defendants.

The Court explained that Texas courts may exercise specific jurisdiction only over a defendant whose alleged Texas contacts — not simply the presence of its officer during unrelated communications — give rise to the plaintiff’s claims. Even assuming the plaintiffs’ evidence could be considered and that the officer’s in-Texas communications could be attributed to the defendants, the Court further that communications that “routine transaction-related” communications— project benchmarks, document requests, administrative matters — did not supply the required suit-related contacts to support specific jurisdiction. No. 05-25-00134-CV (June 24, 2026).