Tabor, Chhabra & Gibbs, P.A. v. Medical Legal Evaluations, Inc

In Tabor, Chhabra & Gibbs, P.A. v. Medical Legal Evaluations, Inc., 237 S.W.3d 762 (Tex. App.--Houston 1st Dist. 2007, no pet.), the Houston Court of Appeals, First District, declined to find specific jurisdiction over an out-of-state law firm and its partner that contracted with an intermediary company which referred a doctor who happened to be in Texas as an expert witness. Tabor, 237 S.W.3d at 772-78. The court found the nonresident law firm did not purposefully avail itself of the privilege of conducting activities in Texas because it did not enter into a contract with the Texas physician, and, even if the physician was a third-party beneficiary of the contract between the law firm and the intermediary company, the contract was neither executed in nor required to be performed in Texas. Id. at 773-74. Further, the court found there was no evidence of recruitment of this particular Texas physician to be the expert--many different doctors could have served as the expert witness; it was merely fortuitous that the doctor who was selected by the intermediary company happened to reside in Texas, and thus the recruitment allegations would not support specific jurisdiction. Id. at 777.