Texas Supreme Court Affirms Specific Personal Jurisdiction over Non-resident Battery Manufacturer
By Paul V. Esposito
To establish specific personal jurisdiction, a non-resident manufacturer need not have intended that its product would be used in the way involved in an injury. LG Chem America, Inc. v. Morgan, 2023 Tex. LEXIS 420 (5/19/23). Plaintiff was injured when a lithium-ion battery placed in an e-cigarette exploded in his pocket. LG Chem intentionally sold thousands of batteries in the Texas market, but it never intended for their use in e-cigarettes. A jurisdictional analysis must focus on the nature and extent of a defendant’s contacts with a state rather than its intent as to the use of its product. And though LG targeted industrial manufacturers, it was irrelevant for jurisdictional purposes that plaintiff bought the battery from non-targeted sellers.