November 19, 2009

The Maryland Court of Appeals held on Monday that mere shipment of raw asbestos fibers to that state in transit to locations outside the state does not constitute purposeful availment sufficient for personal jurisdiction over the fiber supplier. In CSR, LTD. v. TAYLOR the estates of stevedores, who handled the defendant's bags of raw fiber in Maryland, sued the fiber supplier, an Australian corporation. The intentional shipment of the raw fibers to the port in Baltimore was not sufficient to constitute purposeful availment sufficient for minimum contacts for personal jurisdiction under the Due Process Clause of the US Constitution.