Philip Anrig v. Ringsby United

This appeal involves procedural issues arising from an attempt by a group of multi-state plaintiffs to bring suit against corporate and individual defendants of varied residences. The court below dismissed the entire action for lack of venue and plaintiffs now appeal that dismissal.

The underlying dispute concerns numerous lease agreements whereby the individual sets of plaintiffs (usually married couples) agreed to lease trucking equipment, consisting of tractor and trailer units, from the defendants. The terms of the agreements are not relevant to this appeal but plaintiffs allege that the lease agreements required the lessees (plaintiffs describe themselves as investors) to devote the equipment to the exclusive use of the defendants. In other words, the plaintiffs alleged that they were irrevocably tied to defendants, precluded from seeking freight traffic of their own, and forced to rely upon defendants for the essential management and administration of the lease agreements which plaintiffs characterize as “investment contracts”. Plaintiffs allege that defendants, after securing the initial lease agreements from the investors, began an intentional program of substantially…