(1) Paper/Case Study
(1) Paper/Case Study
Perform the following tasks: (1) click on the link to this assignment, (2) read this hypothetical case, and (3) in your capacity as a judge, render a written
decision/opinion based on the issues to be decided from the scenario. Prepare your decision
(Note: It is highly recommended that you follow the available rubric for preparing your response, including the rubric’s description. Compliance with the format
described in the rubric will be part of the grade. It is further recommended that you review the guide to Responding to Hypotheticals/Case Analyses.)
You are a judge and receive this case. On January 6, 2012, Kopp purchased a chairlift ticket at Angel’s Ear Ski Resort in Chickadee, Wisconsin. As a result of the
“unreasonably fast speed” of the lift in the boarding area, he was injured as he was attempting to board it. Kopp sued Slopes Entertainment, the operator of the lift,
in the Northern District of Illinois. He asserted that Slopes Entertainment’s negligence in operating the lift at such a high speed caused him to be thrown from the
lift and to suffer a displaced left clavicular fracture (i.e., a broken collarbone).
Subsequently, Kopp filed a lawsuit against Angel’s Ear Ski Resort, alleging that the resort was negligent. Kopp filed the lawsuit in an Illinois federal district
court. The parties agreed that the federal court had subject-matter jurisdiction over the suit based on diversity of citizenship: Kopp is a citizen of Illinois, and
Angel’s Ear is both incorporated and has its principal place of business in Wisconsin.
Despite subject-matter jurisdiction, however, Angel’s Ear argues that the case should be dismissed based on the argument that the federal court in Illinois does not
have personal jurisdiction over Angel’s Ear.
The court will decide whether it has personal jurisdiction over this suit based on the following facts to which both parties agree are true. Slopes Entertainment owns
and operates the ski slopes at Angel’s Ear Ski Resort in Chickadee, Wisconsin. Its only offices are in Wisconsin. The company does not engage in print or broadcast
advertising in Illinois, but it does attend a trade show—the “Windy City Ski and Snowboard Show”— that takes place in Chicago every year. At the show, Slopes
Entertainment representatives speak with potential customers and obtain their email addresses. The company later sends out “email e-blasts” to those contacts touting
its services and sales.
There is also a website that includes information about both the Angel’s Ear Resort and the ski slopes at the resort (which, as just noted, are operated by Slopes
Entertainment). Customers can reserve rooms at the resort through the website, which takes a deposit at that time, but they cannot purchase lift tickets on the site.
The resort offers a vacation package called the “Chicagoland Shuttle,” but the package is not limited to Chicago—or even Illinois— residents. According to Joey Rotini,
Slopes Entertainment’s general manager, approximately 60 to 75 percent of the resort’s clients are from Illinois.
In your capacity as a judge, you must render a written decision/opinion about whether the court has personal jurisdiction over Angel’s Ear Ski Resort or whether the
court must dismiss the case due to lack of personal jurisdiction.
