Checker Motors Corp. v. Superior Court

In this case we issued an order to show cause for the purpose of considering whether a California insolvency court properly assumed personal jurisdiction over an out-of-state partnership and its general partner. These entities had solicited and negotiated a substantial investment from a California insurance company. In return they made the California insurer the sole limited partner in this out-of-state partnership. The general partner terminated this limited partnership interest four years later because California appointed a conservator for the insurance company. We conclude the out-of-state entities had sufficient contacts with California during these transactions to satisfy due process and confer personal jurisdiction on the trial court. Accordingly, we deny the petition for writ of mandate which the out-of-state entities filed.

Facts and Proceedings Below

While this writ proceeding concerns a recent, limited issue of personal jurisdiction, the underlying litigation arises out of the 1980’s and an insurance company’s days as a funder of “leveraged buyouts,” among other things. Executive Life Insurance Company of California (ELIC), a California corporation, was the…