Kerr
Kerr v. Inamed Corp.
Opinion
Lead Opinion
MEMORANDUM *
Plaintiffs are residents of the United Kingdom who claim personal injuries related to breast implants that they received in the United Kingdom. The district court dismissed the action.
A. Personal Jurisdiction
Plaintiffs claim that the district court for the Northern District of California had “specific jurisdiction” over Washington University, which is located in Missouri, and over Dr. Young, who is a professor there.
The University did not purposely avail itself of the privilege of conducting activities in California. See Omeluk v. Lang-ston Slip & Batbyggeri AJS, 52 F.3d 267, 270 (9th Cir.1995) (stating the test for specific jurisdiction). Its relevant contacts with California were limited to licensing a patent to a California limited partnership.
Nor did Dr. Young purposely avail himself of the forum state sufficiently to support jurisdiction. From 1992 to 1994, Dr. Young had two consulting contracts with LipoMatrix, a Delaware corporation whose principal place of business was in California. But the mere existence of a contract is not a sufficient minimum contact. Sher v. Johnson, 911 F.2d 1357, 1362 (9th Cir.1990). The activity contemplated by the agreement…