Hall v. Aqua-Chem, Inc. et al

Filing 257

ORDER DENYING General Electric Company's Motion to Dismiss Case for Lack of Jurisdiction [Doc. 238]. Signed by Judge Staci M. Yandle on 9/28/15. (mah)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS

VAN L. HALL,

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Plaintiff,
vs.
AQUA-CHEM, INC., et al.,
Defendants.

Case No. 14-CV-28-SMY-DGW

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
YANDLE, District Judge:
Pending before the Court is the Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff’s Complaint for Lack of
Specific and General Personal Jurisdiction filed by Defendant General Electric Company (“GE”)
(Doc. 238). GE argues Plaintiff cannot demonstrate specific or personal jurisdiction over GE
under the Illinois Long-Arm Statute (735 ILCS 5/2-209(a)-(f)). Plaintiff counters that GE has
waived its personal jurisdiction defense by actively participating in this litigation. The Court
agrees.
A defendant waives its personal jurisdiction defense when it causes the Court to go to
“some effort that would be wasted if personal jurisdiction is later found lacking” and gives the
plaintiff a “reasonable expectation that it will defend the suit on the merits.”

Mobile

Anesthesiologists Chicago v. Anesthesia Assoc. of Houston Metroplex, 623 F.3d 440, 443 (7th
Cir. 2010) (citing American Patriot Ins. Agency v. Mutual Risk Management, 364 F.3d 884, 88788 (7th Cir. 2004)). Prior to filing the instant motion, GE participated in litigating this case for
over sixteen months. In addition to its initial response, GE has entered the appearance of
additional counsel (Doc. 190), participated in discovery (see , eg. Doc. 124), moved for dismissal
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(Doc. 136), appeared at conferences before the Court (Docs. 188, 229), and joined motions in
limine (Docs. 209, 231).

This degree of activity obviously gave Plaintiff a reasonable

expectation that GE will defend the suit on the merits. Accordingly, GE has waived its personal
jurisdiction defense and the Motion is DENIED.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
DATED: September 28, 2015
s/ Staci M. Yandle
STACI M. YANDLE
United States District Judge

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