INTHECIRCUITCOURTOFCOOKCOUNTY,ILLINOISCOUNTYDEPARTMENTLAWDIVISION

STONEMOUNTAINACCESSSYSTEMS,INC., )

)Plaintiff, ) No.2015L3735

)v. )

)MAININDUSTRIES,INC., )BLUEANGELSERVICES,LLC., )MICAHHARRISONANDTIFFANYHARRISON, )

)Defendants. )

DEFENDANTSBLUEANGELSERVICES,INC.,MICAHHARRISONANDTIFFANYHARRISONSMOTIONTODISMISSFORLACKOF

PERSONALJURISDICTION

Defendants Blue Angel Services, LLC., Micah Harrison, and Tiffany

Harrison (the Harrison Defendants), by and through their attorney, Edward X.

Clinton, Jr. hereby move to dismiss this lawsuit pursuant to 735 ILCS Section

2/619(a)(9) and 735 ILCS 5/2-209 for lack of personal jurisdiction. In support of

themotion,theHarrisondefendantsstateasfollows:

1. Micah Harrison was employed by Stone for seven years. Micah

works exclusively in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. See

Complaint;Exhibit1DeclarationofMicahHarrison.

2. On June 11, 2014, Micah refused to sign a non-solicitation and

nondisclosure agreement with Stone Mountain Access Systems, Inc. (Stone

Mountain) and was terminated. The Complaint alleges that Micah resigned. He

allegesthathewasterminated.SeeExhibit1.

3. Micah was then employed by Defendant Main Industries. See

Exhibit1.

4. Defendant Blue Angel Services was formed by the Harrisons. It is a

Florida limited liability company and has not conducted business in Chicago.

None of Blue Angels members resides in Illinois or has conducted any business in

Illinois.SeeExhibit1andExhibit2,DeclarationofTiffanyHarrison.

5. Tiffany Harrison is Micah Harrisons wife. At all relevant times she

resided in the State of Florida. Tiffany has never conducted any business in

Illinois.SeeExhibit2.

ARGUMENT

A. ThisCourtLacksPersonalJurisdictionOvertheHarrisonDefendants.

This matter should be dismissed pursuant to 735 ILCS 5/2-619(a)(9) for

lackofpersonaljurisdiction.

An Illinois Court may only exercise personal jurisdiction over a

non-resident under the terms of the long-arm statute, 735 ILCS 5/2-209. To

determine whether to exercise jurisdiction, the court must evaluate the

following: (1) whether jurisdiction is proper under the specific language of the

long-arm statute; and (2) whether jurisdiction is permissible under the notions of

due process. Estate of Isringhausen v. Prime Contrs. & Assocs., 378 Ill. App. 3d

1059,1065(4 th Dist.2008)(internalcitationsomitted).

To satisfy due process requirements, Defendant must have certain

minimum contacts with the state. Id. [T]here must be some act by which the

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defendant purposefully availed himself of the privilege of conducting business in

the forum state, in order to assure that a nonresident will not be called into a

forum solely as a result of random, fortuitous, or attenuated contacts with the

forum or the unilateral acts of a consumer or some other third person. Id. In

determining whether due process is satisfied, the court considers the following:

(1) the nonresident defendant had "minimum contact" with Illinois such that

there was "fair warning" that the nonresident defendant may be hailed into an

Illinois court; (2) the action arose out of or related to the defendant's contacts

with Illinois; and (3) it is reasonable to require the defendant to litigate in

Illinois. Id. The defendant should be able to anticipate or foresee being called

intoanIllinoiscourt. Id.

For example, in a recent Seventh Circuit case utilizing Illinois

jurisdictional law, a Wisconsin farmer who sold grain to an Illinois company did

not have sufficient contacts to Illinois to permit the Western Division of the

Northern District of Illinois to exercise personal jurisdiction over the farmer.

Northern Grain Marketing, LLC v. Greving, 743 F.3d 487 (7th Cir., 2014). The

Court noted that [a]side from receiving money from this Illinois-based

buyeractivities that Greving completed entirely from within the Badger States

boardersGreving has no relevant interaction with Illinois. These defendants

are in a similar situation. Two of them (Tiffany and Blue Angel) have never had

any interaction of any kind with the State of Illinois. Micah has attended a few

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company meetings in Illinois, but those contacts are insufficient for personal

jurisdiction.

1. PlaintiffDoesNotAllegeSufficientContactsWithIllinoisToMeetItsBurdenToShowThatThisCourtHasPersonalJurisdictionOvertheDefendants.

Under Illinois law, the plaintiff must allege sufficient facts to demonstrate

that an Illinois court can assert personal jurisdiction over the Defendants. It is

the plaintiffs burden to establish a prima facie case for personal jurisdiction over

the defendant. To determine whether the plaintiff has set forth a prima facie

case for jurisdiction, the trial court must consider the uncontroverted pleadings,

documents and affidavits, as well as any facts asserted by the defendant that have

not been contradicted by the plaintiff. Cardenas Marketing Network, Inc. v.

Evaristo Pabon, Jr. , 2012 IL App (1 st ) 111645, 22. The complaint contains no

allegations that demonstrate that personal jurisdiction over the Harrison

defendants is appropriate. Plaintiff concedes that Defendant Micah Harrison

worked at Stone Mountains Pensacola Office. Complaint 7. Plaintiff concedes

that both Harrisons reside in Florida. Complaint 4 and 5. Plaintiff even

concedes that Tiffany Harrison has never worked for Stone Mountain. Complaint.

15. Plaintiff has not alleged sufficient facts for Illinois to assert jurisdiction over

theHarrisonDefendants.

2. TiffanyHarrisonandBlueAngelServices,LLCShouldBeDismissedforLackofJurisdiction.

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Here, like the famer in Northern Grain, Defendants had no relevant

interaction with Illinois. Plaintiff does not allege a single fact that proves

jurisdiction in Illinois over Tiffany or Blue Angel. There are no allegations that

any contract was entered into in the State of Illinois. Defendants have no

contacts with Illinois. Defendants are residents of Florida. Defendants did not

transact business in Illinois. (Exhs. 3 - 5). Defendants did not enter into a

contract in Illinois, nor perform any contract in Illinois. (Exhs. 3 5).

Defendants took no action to put them on notice that they will be sued in Illinois.

ItisunreasonabletorequiretheDefendantstolitigateinIllinois.

Therefore, Plaintiffs Complaint against Tiffany and Blue Angel Services

should be dismissed in its entirety pursuant to 735 ILCS 5/2-619(a)(9) for lack of

subjectmatterjurisdiction.

3. ThereisNoJurisdictionOverMicahHarrisonEither.

Micah Harrison spent seven years employed by Stone Mountain. His

employment was terminated on June 14, 2014 after Stone Mountain told him to

sign an unfair nondisclosure and nonsolicitation agreement. During his time

with Stone Mountain, Harrison worked exclusively in Florida. He had no

contracts or contacts with the State of Illinois, except for his attendance at a few

company meetings. Harrison has virtually no contact with the State of Illinois. He

has always maintained a Florida residence and has worked in Florida. His

current company, Blue Angel Services, LLC is a Florida limited liability company

with no operations of any kind in the State of Illinois. Blue Angel has no sales in

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Illinois and has not entered into any contracts with anyone from the State of

Illinois.

Neither Harrison nor Blue Angel has ever had a bank account in the State

of Illinois. There was simply insufficient contact between Harrison and Illinois

for Harrison to reasonably expect to be hailed into court in Illinois, two thousand

milesfromhishomeandplaceofwork.

Finally, all of the alleged wrongful conduct in the complaint by Harrison

occurredintheStateofFlorida.

In sum, the Harrison defendants should be dismissed for lack of personal

jurisdiction.

Respectfullysubmitted,

/s/EdwardX.Clinton,Jr.

EdwardX.Clinton,Jr.TheClintonLawFirm111WestWashington,Suite1437Chicago,IL60602(312)357-1515edwardclinton@icloud.comwww.clintonlaw.net

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CertificateofService

Edward X. Clinton, Jr., an attorney, hereby certifies that he caused a copy of the foregoing Defendants Motion to Dismiss For Lack of Personal Jurisdiction tobeservedonthefollowingpartybyU.S.mailonthis29 th dayofMay2015:HesikPrybylo821GarfieldStreetOakPark,IL60304

/s/EdwardX.Clinton,Jr.

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