Holes in the Contractual Jurisdiction Net

Ahlam Ramzy, a former employee of Perfect Brow Art, Inc., left and started her own Tennessee eyebrow threading salon. Perfect Brow brought suit against Ahlam in Chicago for trademark infringement, trade dress infringement, false designation of origin, trade secret misappropriation and unfair competition.

Ahlam brought a motion to dismiss the Chicago case for lack of personal jurisdiction. Personal jurisdiction is dictated by the reach of where the court sits. Ahlam had never been to Chicago and hadn’t done any business there. Ahlam argued that the Chicago court only would have personal jurisdiction over her if she was located in Illinois or she had sufficient minimum contacts with Illinois to justify jurisdiction over her. Perfect Brow sought to get around the fact that Ahlam had no contacts with Illinois by pointing to a clause in Ahlam’s employment agreement where the parties agreed that the employment contract would be interpreted under Illinois law. The District Court dismissed the case for lack of personal jurisdiction without prejudice. The court held that the choice of law term in the contract was not sufficient to confer personal jurisdiction over Ahlam. Note that the case was dismissed without prejudice. That means Perfect Brow can still bring suit against Ahlam in Tennessee.

WHY YOU SHOULD KNOW THIS. Companies often use employment agreements to make sure that an employee won’t take the company’s Intellectual Property with them after the employee leaves. Companies can also use employment agreements to keep any lawsuits in the company’s home state. It’s convenient and tames the costs of litigation. As Perfect Brow learned, getting the benefits of a contractual term is all in how the term is drafted. If the term had specifically stated that any litigation between the parties would take place in Illinois, then the Illinois case would probably not have been dismissed.