Diamond Group, Inc. v. Selective Distribution International, Inc. (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-139-13)

NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports.  If you find a typographical error or other formal error, please notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Judicial Court, John Adams Courthouse, 1 Pemberton Square, Suite 2500, Boston, MA 02108-1750; (617) 557-1030; SJCReporter@sjc.state.ma.us       12‑P‑864                                        Appeals Court   Diamond Group, Inc.  vs.  Selective Distribution International, Inc. No. 12‑P‑864. Middlesex.     January 8, 2013.  ‑  November 25, 2013. Present:  Graham, Grainger, & Sikora, JJ.   Jurisdiction, Personal, Long‑arm statute, Forum non conveniens.  Constitutional Law.  Due Process of Law.       Civil action commenced in the Superior Court Department on October 19, 2009.   A motion to dismiss was heard by Daniel M. Wrenn, J.     Scott P. Fink for the plaintiff. Leonard M. Singer for the defendant.       SIKORA, J.  This appeal presents a question of the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts courts over a business corporation located exclusively in New York State.  The plaintiff, Diamond Group, Inc. (Diamond), is a wholesale distributor of perfume products; its sole business location lies in Newton, Massachusetts.  The defendant, Selective Distribution International, Inc. (Selective), is a distributor of fragrances, cosmetics, and beauty aids and accessories to retailers; its sole location lies in Jericho (Long Island), New York.  Diamond brought suit against Selective in Superior Court for nonpayment for goods sold and delivered.  It alleged that, over a period of twenty-one months, it had sold perfume products to Selective of a value of $ 995,692.35, but that Selective had failed to pay a balance due of $ 529,689.70.  Diamond pleaded claims of breach of contract, quantum meruit entitlement, and unfair or deceptive conduct within the meaning of G. L. c. 93A, §§ 2 and 11.  If proven, the wrongful nonpayment for more than half a million dollars worth of perfume would constitute conduct in fragrante delicto. However, this appeal does not require a decision of that ultimate question.  It requires instead the determination whether the Massachusetts courts have jurisdiction to entertain the claim.  In response to Diamond’s complaint, Selective moved under Mass.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(2), 365 Mass. 754 (1974), to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction or, alternatively, forum non conveniens.  After supplementation of the allegations of the verified complaint by affidavits and appended exhibits by both parties, and after submission of extensive memoranda of law, a judge of the Superior Court concluded that Massachusetts courts lacked personal jurisdiction over Selective and entered judgment of dismissal.  For the following reasons, we now reverse.   Background.  These undisputed facts emerge from the verified complaint, the parties’ affidavits, and their attached exhibits.  Each of the corporate parties in this case is primarily a one-man […]

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