Pinner v. Pinner

467 Md. 463

225 A.3d 433

Randy R. PINNER

v.Mona H. PINNER, et al.

No. 16, Sept. Term, 2019

Court of Appeals of Maryland.

March 3, 2020

Argued by Howard J. Schulman (Wright, Constable & Skeen, LLP, Baltimore, MD), on brief, for Petitioner.

Argued by Linda M. Schuett (Linda Schuett Law of Crownsville, MD), on brief, for Respondents.

Barbera, C.J., McDonald, Watts, Hotten, Getty, Booth, Alan M. Wilner (Senior Judge, Specially Assigned), JJ.

Booth, J.

This case requires the determination of whether the Circuit Court for Baltimore City erred in exercising in personam jurisdiction over the defendant, Mona Pinner, a North Carolina resident. The case was filed by Randy Pinner, Mona's¹ stepson, who is also a North Carolina resident. In the proceedings below, Randy obtained a default judgment against Mona, in the amount of nearly $100,000.

Prior to the instant litigation, Edwin Pinner, Mona's late husband and Randy's father, and Mona, filed suit in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, seeking damages for personal injuries caused by Edwin's asbestos exposure (the "Asbestos Case"). After Edwin's death from mesothelioma, the Asbestos Case was converted to a wrongful death and survival action on behalf of Mona, individually, and as personal representative of the Estate of Edwin F. Pinner ("the Estate"). Mona and Edwin were represented by Mary H. Keyes, Esq., and the Keyes Law Firms, LLC (collectively, "the Keyes Defendants"). Approximately two years after the Asbestos Case was filed, by agreement with Ms. Keyes, the law firm of Napoli Bern Ripka Shkolnick & Associates, LLP ("the Napoli Firm") assumed responsibility for the case.

After Mona added a wrongful death claim to the Asbestos Case, she failed to timely serve notice on Randy, pursuant to Maryland Rule 15-1001, and she did not name him as a use plaintiff. When Randy was subsequently notified of the suit, he moved to intervene, but was barred from doing so by the statute of limitations. Mona settled the Asbestos Case with certain defendants, and she received settlement proceeds, but did not deposit those funds into Edwin's Estate in North Carolina.

Consequently, Randy filed the instant action in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City asserting claims of negligence against Mona, the Keyes Defendants, and the Napoli Defendants, as well as claims for aiding and abetting, negligent retention and supervision, and respondeat superior against some of the Keyes Defendants and the Napoli Defendants. The circuit court granted motions to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted against the Keyes Defendants and the Napoli Defendants.

Mona failed to respond and Randy's request for an order of default was granted. After Mona unsuccessfully moved to vacate the order of default, the court held a damages inquisition hearing over two days, determined that it had personal jurisdiction over Mona, and entered a default judgment in favor of Randy for $99,856.84.

In a reported opinion, the Court of Special Appeals reversed the circuit court's decision with respect to the finding of personal jurisdiction and remanded the case with direction that the circuit court vacate the default judgment and enter an order dismissing the claims against Mona for lack of jurisdiction. Pinner v. Pinner , 240 Md. App. 90, 98, 201 A.3d 26 (2019). The Court of Special Appeals affirmed the dismissal of the claims against the Keyes Defendants and the Napoli Defendants. Id.

Randy petitioned for writ of certiorari , which we granted to consider the following question, which we have rephrased:²

Did the circuit court err by exercising personal jurisdiction over Mona?

For the reasons set forth within, we hold that the circuit court erred in exercising personal jurisdiction over Mona and we affirm the decision of the Court of Special Appeals.

I. BACKGROUND

The Court of Special Appeals succinctly summarized the relevant facts in its reported opinion in the present case, Pinner , 240 Md. App. at 98–103, 201 A.3d 26, which we paraphrase as follows.

In 1952 and 1953, Edwin Pinner was exposed to asbestos while working at an insulating plant in Baltimore, Maryland. In August 2009, Edwin was diagnosed with mesothelioma. He lived with his wife, Mona, in North Carolina. Edwin had one biological son, Randy, from a prior marriage who also lives in North Carolina.

On February 23, 2010, Edwin and Mona, through counsel³ , filed suit in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City against numerous defendants, including two of Edwin's former employers headquartered in Baltimore City—Continental Wire and Inland Steel—alleging that he had been directly exposed to asbestos while working for those companies. During discovery, Edwin and Mona identified Randy as Edwin's only biological son in answers to interrogatories.

In October 2010, eight months after suit was filed, Edwin died from mesothelioma. In December 2010, Mona was appointed personal representative of Edwin's Estate in the General Court of Justice, Superior Court Division, Buncombe County, North Carolina. She listed the Asbestos Case as property of the Estate.

Two and one-half years after Edwin died, on April 24, 2013, Mona, through counsel, amended her complaint to add a claim for wrongful death. In Maryland, "[o]nly one action" shall lie for the wrongful death of a person and it "shall be for the benefit of the wife, husband, parent and child of the deceased person." Md. Code (1974, 2013 Repl. Vol., 2019 Cum. Supp.), Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article ("CJ"), § 3-904(a)(1) ; (f). Pursuant to Maryland Rule 15-1001(b), "[a]ll persons who are or may be entitled by law to claim damages by reason of the wrongful death shall be named as plaintiffs whether or not they join in the action." If a potential wrongful death beneficiary is not joined in the action, the words "to the use of" should precede their name. Md. Rule 15-1001(b). The party bringing the wrongful death action is required to serve a copy of the complaint on each use plaintiff, along with a notice explaining their right to join the action. Md. Rule 15-1001(d). Randy was not named as a use plaintiff in the amended complaint nor was he served with a copy of the amended complaint or the notice required by Maryland Rule 15-1001(d).⁴

Over a year later, in June 2014, two of the defendants in the Asbestos Case moved to dismiss the wrongful death count of the amended complaint on the ground that Mona had failed to name Randy as a use plaintiff. In response to that motion, in July 2014, Mona, through counsel, filed by consent a second amended complaint. The second amended complaint substituted Mona, individually and as personal representative of the Estate, as the only plaintiff, and added Randy as a use plaintiff in the wrongful death count. In July 2014, three years and eight months after Edwin's death, Mona, through counsel, served Randy with a copy of the complaint and the Rule 15-1001(d) notice. Within 60 days, Randy moved to intervene in the Asbestos Case. The defendants opposed his intervention on the ground that his claim was barred by the applicable statute of limitations. In October 2014, the circuit court entered an order permitting Randy to intervene for the limited purpose of conducting discovery related to the statute of limitations issue. In July 2015, the circuit court entered an order denying his motion to intervene as being barred by the applicable statute of limitations.

II. PROCEEDINGS BELOW

In January 2016, Randy filed the instant case against Mona and her attorneys in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City. Randy alleged sixteen counts against Mona and her attorneys⁵ based on their failure to name him as a use plaintiff and provide him with notice of the wrongful death action under Maryland Rule 15-1001. Although both Randy and Mona resided in North Carolina and the law firms were organized in New York and Delaware, Randy filed the suit in Maryland.

Randy alleged personal jurisdiction over the parties under Maryland's long arm statute, CJ § 6-103.

Counts I, II, and IV pertained to Mona, individually and as personal representative of the Estate. Count I asserted that Mona negligently failed to name Randy as a use plaintiff in violation of Maryland Rule 15-1001. Count II alleged that she breached her fiduciary duties as personal representative of the Estate under North Carolina law by failing to provide notice under Maryland Rule 15-1001 and failing to distribute a share of the settlement monies from the Asbestos Case to Randy, a statutory beneficiary of the Estate. Count IV alleged that Mona was vicariously liable for the tortious acts and omissions of her attorneys.

Counts II, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, and XII all pertained to the law firms representing Mona. The claims against the law firms and individual attorneys included negligence for failure to name Randy as a use plaintiff, negligent retention and supervision, aiding and abetting Mona's breach of Maryland Rule 15-1001 and her breach of fiduciary duty, and vicarious liability for the tortious conduct and omissions of individual attorneys.

The law firms moved to dismiss the counts filed against them. After a hearing, the circuit court granted the law firms' motions to dismiss with prejudice. The court found that there was no attorney-client relationship to provide Randy with standing to sue as a third-party beneficiary between Mona and her attorneys. Further, the court found that Randy failed to state a claim for the remaining counts because Maryland law did not recognize the claims as independent causes of action or cognizable under Maryland law.

Randy served Mona with private process in North Carolina on March 14, 2016. Mona failed to file a responsive pleading. On November 28, 2016, Randy filed a request for an order of default, which the circuit court granted. The court sent Mona a notice of the order and advised her that she could move to vacate the order within 30 days. Through her attorney, Mona moved to vacate the order on ...