Dan Kelly and Laura Hofstatter, Petitioners v. General Interior Construction, Inc., Respondent

Summary

The Texas Supreme Court held that a plaintiff invoking specific jurisdiction over nonresident defendants must plead a connection between the defendants' alleged wrongdoing and Texas, and that where the pleadings allege no jurisdictional acts in the forum, the defendants negate all bases of jurisdiction simply by proving they are nonresidents. Because GIC's third-party petition alleged no trust-fund or fraud acts by the Arizona-based officers in Texas, and GIC offered no responsive evidence tying the officers to Texas, the court reversed in part and rendered judgment dismissing GIC's claims for lack of personal jurisdiction. The court further held that a statute creating individual officer liability under the Texas Trust Fund Act cannot itself supply jurisdictional due process, and it reaffirmed the rejection of 'directed-a-tort' jurisdiction under Michiana Easy Livin' Country.