Nationwide Distribution Services, Inc. v. Jones

In Nationwide Distribution Services, Inc. v. Jones, Beck Redden appellate specialist Chad Flores secured a unanimous victory for a Firm client before the Court of Appeals for the First District of Texas at Houston.  At issue in the appeal was a novel question about the procedural means of litigating personal jurisdiction.  The case arose when Beck Redden’s client sued an out-of-state corporation responsible for a serious accident that had occurred in Texas.  The out-of-state corporation sought dismissal for lack of personal jurisdiction, and after the trial court allowed the case to proceed, an interlocutory appeal commenced.

The court of appeals ruled in favor of Beck Redden’s client with a unanimous published opinion authored by Justice Michael Massengale.  To decide the key procedural question about the proper means of litigating personal jurisdiction at trial, the Court relied heavily upon Trenz v. Peter Paul Petroleum Co., 388 S.W.3d 796 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2012, no pet.), an appeal in which Flores also served as lead counsel for the prevailing party.  Treatises and practice guides now cite Nationwide and Trenz as leading precedents in this field.

Flores served as lead counsel in the appeal with assistance from appellate colleague Russell Post and in collaboration with Jason Itkin, Cory Itkin, and Noah Wexler, trial attorneys of Arnold & Itkin LLP.  The decision is published as Nationwide Distribution Services, Inc. v. Jones, No. 01-15-00232-CV, 2016 WL 3221071 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] June 9, 2016, no pet.).