No Operative-Fact Connection, No Personal Jurisdiction

Personal jurisdiction was rejected over an out-of-state freight broker in Online Transport System, Inc. v. Hanks, which focused on the “operative facts” of the plaintiff’s claim.

The Fifth Court held that “of the purposeful availment allegations …, the only act that has any connection to Hanks’s claims is that Model 2 Transport is a Texas-based entity,” but “that fact has nothing to do with the operative facts of Hanks’s claims, which is whether OLTS was negligent in entering into a brokerage contract with Model 2 Transport to transport product to Colorado.” Likewise, the Court held that OLTS’s broader Texas footprint — brokering with “over 1200 Texas motor carriers” and deriving “7% of its overall revenue” from Texas-related loads — “will not be at issue at trial, nor do Hanks’s claims principally concern any of those facts.” No. 05-26-00215-CV (Sept. 14, 2026).