SMS Attorneys Obtain Dismissal in the Circuit Court of Gilmer County
On August 19, 2020, SMS attorneys Karen McElhinny, Emily Lilly, and Caleb David obtained dismissal on behalf of their client in Caren Rachelle Jenkins v. CNY Fertility, PLLC, et al. in the Circuit Court of Gilmer County, West Virginia. The plaintiff, a former patient of the defendant fertility clinic, alleged that she obtained fertility services in the State of New York, where the fertility clinic is located. She then gave birth to twins in West Virginia. The plaintiff alleged that, after giving birth to the twins, she learned for the first time that her partner was born a biological male and that the children were conceived from the ova of her partner and the sperm of a donor. The plaintiff asserted several causes of action against the fertility clinic and her partner and his family related to the fertility services and the biological parentage of the children. Ms. McElhinny, Ms. Lilly, Mr. David, and their co-counsel moved for dismissal on the grounds of lack of personal jurisdiction because all services rendered by the fertility clinic were provided in the State of New York and because the fertility clinic lacked sufficient minimum contacts in the State of West Virginia. The plaintiff argued that, because the fertility clinic maintained a website that allegedly solicited business from all 50 states, including West Virginia, the defendant purposefully availed itself of jurisdiction. The defendant fertility clinic argued that its website was a passive website, providing only information about its services, and, therefore, did not provide sufficient minimum contacts to avail the defendant of jurisdiction in the State of West Virginia. Following briefing and oral argument, the Court ruled that the defendant’s website was a passive website, and, following Zippo Spectrum analysis set forth in Zippo Mfg. Co. v. Zippo Dot Com, Inc., 952 F. Supp. 1119 (1997), the website did not provide sufficient minimum contacts to confer personal jurisdiction over the defendant. Therefore, the Court dismissed the defendant fertility clinic.
About: Shuman McCuskey Slicer PLLC is a civil defense litigation law firm defending businesses, professionals, and insurers in high-stakes litigation. The firm has over 20 attorneys licensed to practice in West Virginia, Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New York. SMS was founded in Charleston, WV, where it remains headquartered and has additional offices in Morgantown, WV, and Winchester, VA.
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