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143054P.pdf 08/21/2015 Creative Calling Solutions Inc v. LF Beauty Ltd.
U.S. Court of Appeals Case No: 14-3054
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa - Des Moines
[PUBLISHED] [Colloton, Author, with Chief Judge Riley and Kelly, Circuit
Judges]
Civil Case - personal jurisdiction. Creative Calling, an Iowa corporation
selling beauty products, contracted with LF Beauty in Hong Kong to manage
Creative Calling's operations in China. Creative Calling's president
traveled to Hong Kong; LF Beauty shipped samples and pre-production
samples to Iowa. Creative Calling brought a breach of contract action in
Iowa. The district court's dismissal for lack of personal jurisdiction in
this breach of contract action is reversed. Creative Calling presented
sufficient fact for a reasonable jury to conclude that LF Beauty
established minimum contacts with Iowa to permit the exercise of personal
jurisdiction: LF Beauty solicited the business relationship, negotiated
the contract, communicated daily via e-mail and telephone for nearly two
years; the terms of the contract required LF Beauty to send pre-production
samples for approval and in fact mailed thousands of samples; and LF
Beauty received payments from customers on behalf of Creative Calling. The
exercise of personal jurisdiction would not offend traditional notions of
fair play and substantial justice, as witnesses and evidence are in Iowa.
The contract's selection of Hong Kong courts as a non-exclusive forum and
its choice of Hong Kong law is not dispositive.