In Alexander v. Marshall, the original trustee was the beneficiary’s mother and the wife of the beneficiary’s father, who was the settlor. No. 14-18-00425-CV, 2021 Tex. App. LEXIS 1952 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] March 16, 2021, no pet. history). In December 2016, the original trustee appointed Louisiana residents as co-trustees of the trusts and signed appointment documents in Texas. The Louisiana co-trustees each signed acceptance documents in Louisiana. All of the co-trustees testified that they knew, at or around the time of their appointments, that the beneficiary was a Texas resident. The trust beneficiary sued the co-trustees for a declaratory judgment that the appointment of the co-trustees and their compensation scheme violated the terms of the trust instruments and that they aided and abetted the original trustee in breaches of duties. The Louisiana co-trustees objected to the Texas court’s personal jurisdiction over them and filed special appearances. The trial court overruled those objections, and they appealed.

The court of appeals affirmed the trial court’s order. The Louisiana co-trustees first argued that the trial court erred in overruling their objections regarding their personal capacities. The court of appeals disagreed, holding: “a person is always liable for their own torts in an individual capacity, and Preston has alleged that the co-trustees aided and abetted a tort—breach of fiduciary duty. The trial court did not err by not dismissing the co-trustees in their individual capacities.” Id.

The court of appeals next discussed the law regarding personal jurisdiction:

Texas’s exercise of personal jurisdiction over a nonresident defendant comports with due process if a nonresident defendant has “minimum contacts” with Texas and the exercise of jurisdiction does not offend traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice. A defendant’s minimum contacts with a forum, i.e., Texas, are established when the defendant purposefully avails itself of the privilege of conducting activities within the forum state, thus invoking the benefits and protections of its laws. Id. Three principles govern this analysis: (1) only the defendant’s contacts with the forum are relevant, not the unilateral activity of another party or third person; (2) the defendant’s acts must be purposeful and not random, isolated, or fortuitous; and (3) the defendant must seek some benefit, advantage, or profit by availing itself of the jurisdiction such that it impliedly consents to suit there.

A nonresident defendant’s minimum contacts will give rise to specific personal jurisdiction if the plaintiff’s cause of action arises from or relates to those contacts. For a nonresident defendant’s contacts with Texas to support an exercise of specific jurisdiction, “there must be a substantial connection between those contacts and the operative facts of the litigation.” A nonresident’s “directing a tort at Texas from afar is insufficient to confer specific jurisdiction.” The proper focus is on the extent of the defendant’s activities in the forum, not the residence of the plaintiff.

However, the absence of physical contacts with Texas does not defeat personal jurisdiction so long as the defendant’s efforts are purposefully directed towards residents of Texas. A defendant who reaches out beyond one state and creates continuing relationships and obligations with a citizen of another state is subject to the jurisdiction of the latter state in suits based on those activities.

Id. The court held that the Louisiana co-trustees had sufficient contacts with Texas so that the Texas court’s exercise of jurisdiction over them was fair:

The co-trustees contend that this court should not follow Dugas because it is not binding and distinguishable based on the fact that the trusts in this case are governed by Louisiana law and require the trustees to submit issues regarding trust administration to a Louisiana court. But there are additional facts in this case that indicate the co-trustees purposefully availed themselves of the benefits of a Texas forum. While the trust in Dugas was settled in Florida and had administrative functions performed in Tennessee, here the trust was settled in Texas, has all of its property in Texas, and is run administratively in Texas. The former sole trustee, a Texan, appointed the co-trustees in Texas. Moreover, the co-trustees have received payments from Texas as a result of their appointments as co-trustees, and the appointments and future payments have an indefinite duration. These additional facts support a conclusion that the co-trustees have reached out beyond their state and created continuing relationships and obligations with citizens of another state… The co-trustees have not merely directed a tort at Texas, but they have reached out beyond Louisiana to create continuing relationships and obligations with citizens of Texas. Preston’s claim for breach of fiduciary duty arises out of those relationships and obligations… In sum, the trial court did not err by denying the special appearance. The co-trustees’ issues are overruled. The trial court’s order is affirmed.

Id.

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Photo of David Fowler Johnson David Fowler Johnson

[email protected]
817.420.8223

David maintains an active trial and appellate practice and has consistently worked on financial institution litigation matters throughout his career. David is the primary author of the The Fiduciary Litigator blog, which reports on legal cases and issues impacting the fiduciary…

[email protected]
817.420.8223

David maintains an active trial and appellate practice and has consistently worked on financial institution litigation matters throughout his career. David is the primary author of the The Fiduciary Litigator blog, which reports on legal cases and issues impacting the fiduciary field in Texas. Read More

David’s financial institution experience includes (but is not limited to): breach of contract, foreclosure litigation, lender liability, receivership and injunction remedies upon default, non-recourse and other real estate lending, class action, RICO actions, usury, various tort causes of action, breach of fiduciary duty claims, and preference and other related claims raised by receivers.

David also has experience in estate and trust disputes including will contests, mental competency issues, undue influence, trust modification/clarification, breach of fiduciary duty and related claims, and accountings. David’s recent trial experience includes:

  • Representing a bank in federal class action suit where trust beneficiaries challenged whether the bank was the authorized trustee of over 220 trusts;
  • Representing a bank in state court regarding claims that it mismanaged oil and gas assets;
  • Representing a bank who filed suit in probate court to modify three trusts to remove a charitable beneficiary that had substantially changed operations;
  • Represented an individual executor of an estate against claims raised by a beneficiary for breach of fiduciary duty and an accounting; and
  • Represented an individual trustee against claims raised by a beneficiary for breach of fiduciary duty, mental competence of the settlor, and undue influence.

David is one of twenty attorneys in the state (of the 84,000 licensed) that has the triple Board Certification in Civil Trial Law, Civil Appellate and Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

Additionally, David is a member of the Civil Trial Law Commission of the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. This commission writes and grades the exam for new applicants for civil trial law certification.

David maintains an active appellate practice, which includes:

  • Appeals from final judgments after pre-trial orders such as summary judgments or after jury trials;
  • Interlocutory appeals dealing with temporary injunctions, arbitration, special appearances, sealing the record, and receiverships;
  • Original proceedings such as seeking and defending against mandamus relief; and
  • Seeking emergency relief staying trial court’s orders pending appeal or mandamus.

For example, David was the lead appellate lawyer in the Texas Supreme Court in In re Weekley Homes, LP, 295 S.W.3d 309 (Tex. 2009). The Court issued a ground-breaking opinion in favor of David’s client regarding the standards that a trial court should follow in ordering the production of computers in discovery.

David previously taught Appellate Advocacy at Texas Wesleyan University School of Law located in Fort Worth. David is licensed and has practiced in the U.S. Supreme Court; the Fifth, Seventh, and Eleventh Federal Circuits; the Federal District Courts for the Northern, Eastern, and Western Districts of Texas; the Texas Supreme Court and various Texas intermediate appellate courts. David also served as an adjunct professor at Baylor University Law School, where he taught products liability and portions of health law. He has authored many legal articles and spoken at numerous legal education courses on both trial and appellate issues. His articles have been cited as authority by the Texas Supreme Court (twice) and the Texas Courts of Appeals located in Waco, Texarkana, Beaumont, Tyler and Houston (Fourteenth District), and a federal district court in Pennsylvania. David’s articles also have been cited by McDonald and Carlson in their Texas Civil Practice treatise, William v. Dorsaneo in the Texas Litigation Guide, and various authors in the Baylor Law ReviewSt. Mary’s Law JournalSouth Texas Law Review and Tennessee Law Review.

Representative Experience

  • Civil Litigation and Appellate Law