Transfer of Venue Denied Where Defendants Not Subject to Jurisdiction in Proposed Transferee Forum

In denying defendants' motion to transfer venue for convenience, the court concluded that defendants failed to establish that the exercise of personal jurisdiction in the transferee forum would be proper. "[Defendant's] 'payment' of a single lease, filing of a corporate tax return, and employing eight people does not constitute 'continuous and systematic' contacts with [the transferee forum]." Moreover, "[defendant] cannot base its 'general jurisdiction' arguments on the [contacts in the transferee forum] held by other companies. Thus, the fact that [defendant] owns or does business with companies with contacts in [the transferee forum] (such as [other defendants]) does not allow it to rely on those contacts for jurisdictional purposes."

Chirife v. St. Jude Medical, Inc., 6-08-cv-00480
(TXED June 16, 2009, Memorandum Opinion & Order) (Davis, J.)