First Nat'l Bank of Ames, Iowa v. Innovative Clinical and Consulting Servs. LLC

An out-of-state bank did not engage in purposeful business activity in Georgia when it exchanged phone calls and letters with the plaintiff about two accounts opened for the plaintiff's benefit by an out-of-state resident.

Thank you for sharing!

Your article was successfully shared with the contacts you provided.

We granted the application of First National Bank of Ames, Iowa the bank for an interlocutory appeal. The bank appeals from the trial court’s denial of its motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction the action brought against it by Innovative Clinical and Consulting Services, LLC, d/b/a Toco Hills Urgent Care ICCS. Because we find that the bank proved lack of jurisdiction under the Georgia Long-Arm statute, OCGA § 9-10-91, and the trial court should have granted its motion to dismiss, we reverse. The record shows without dispute that ICCS is a medical facility in Atlanta managed in part by Health Care Network Solutions HNS. HNS entered into two agreements to outsource some of its billing and collection operations. Under one agreement the servicing agreement, a company called Med e Fund1 agreed to advance funds to HNS for its receivables, and to invoice and collect from third-party payors. The other agreement, between ICCS and A.C. Financial Corp., an affiliate of Med e Fund, was a lease agreement covering certain hardware and software to be installed in ICCS’s office to facilitate processing the receivables.

A.C. Financial is based in Ames, Iowa, and it was a customer of the bank. It had several accounts at the bank, and the bank had made secured loans to it. The bank was not a party to either of the agreements in issue. But as collateral for one loan to A.C. Financial, the bank took a security interest in the lease agreement between A.C. Financial and ICCS.

First Nat'l Bank of Ames, Iowa v. Innovative Clinical and Consulting Servs. LLC

An out-of-state bank did not engage in purposeful business activity in Georgia when it exchanged phone calls and letters with the plaintiff about two accounts opened for the plaintiff's benefit by an out-of-state resident.

Share with Email

Thank you for sharing!

Trending Stories

More From ALM

Subscribe to Daily Report