Free Response to Motion - District Court of Delaware - Delaware

Case 1:08-cv-00082-JJF

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MARYLAND BRIAN DONNELLY Plaintiff v. SLINGSHOT SPORTS LLC Defendant * * * * * Case No. 1:07-CV-01965-RDB

* * * * * * * * * * * PLAINTIFF'S SECOND OPPOSITION TO MOTION TO DISMISS FOR LACK OF PERSONAL JURISDICTION OR, ALTERNATIVELY, TO TRANSFER VENUE Plaintiff, Brian Donnelly, by and through his attorneys, Paul D. Bekman, Gregory G. Hopper, and Salsbury, Clements, Bekman, Marder & Adkins, L.L.C., hereby files his Second Opposition to the Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Personal Jurisdiction or, Alternatively, to Transfer Venue filed by Defendant, Slingshot Sports LLC, and, in support thereof, states as follows: 1. Brian Donnelly was seriously injured on August 21, 2004 while using a

2004 Slingshot Fuel kiteboarding system designed, manufactured, and sold by Slingshot Sports. Mr. Donnelly is a Maryland resident and was using the kiteboarding system in Delaware at the time of his injury. Slingshot is a Washington corporation that sells its products through its website, by telephone, and authorized dealers. 2. In response to Mr. Donnelly=s complaint, Slingshot filed a Motion to

Dismiss or, Alternatively, to Transfer Venue. In its Motion, Slingshot asserts that it does

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not do business in Maryland or direct its products here. See Mot. to Dism. at 1-2. It also alleges that its products are sold through an authorized dealer, Dave Loop and H2Air in Dewey Beach, Delaware. See id. at 2. 3. In early December, counsel for Plaintiff and Defendant spoke with the

Court about the pending Motion and it was agreed that discovery would be conducted on the issues contained therein. Defendant agreed to produce documents relevant to this issue and put a designee up for deposition. 4. On December 6, 2007, Plaintiff served discovery requests on Defendant and

sent a cover letter asking for dates for deposition of a corporate representative to testify on the issues contained in the Motion. 5. When Plaintiff did not hear back about deposition dates, his attorney sent a

second letter on December 19, 2007 noting a deposition for a designee on January 5, 2008. The deposition was to take place by telephone. See letter dated December 19, 2007, attached hereto as Exhibit 1. 6. Defendant never responded to Plaintiff's Notice ­ it did not identify the

location where the deposition could take place nor give a telephone number where the designee could be reached. 7. Plaintiff's efforts to contact Defendant's counsel have not yielding any

explanation for his lack of response. 8. Plaintiff asks that the Court take one of two actions: (1) deny Defendant's

Motion based upon its failure to cooperate in discovery on the issues contained therein or

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(2) delay ruling on the Motion until January 25, 2008 and order Defendant to produce one or more designees for deposition by Plaintiff on January 18, 2008 at 2:00 p.m. EST at the office of Salsbury, Clements, Bekman, Marder & Adkins in Baltimore (unless the parties come to another agreement and all of the necessary contact information is provided to Plaintiff). Respectfully submitted,

_____/s/_____________________________ Gregory G. Hopper (Bar No. 26150) Salsbury, Clements, Bekman, Marder & Adkins 300 W. Pratt Street, Suite 450 Baltimore, Maryland 21201 (410) 539-6633 Attorneys for Plaintiffs

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December 19, 2007

Via Facsimile and Mail Anthony D. Dwyer, Esquire Law Offices of Austin W. Brizedine, Jr. 6011 University Boulevard, Suite 480 Ellicott City, Maryland 21043 Facsimile No. (410) 720-4645 RE: Brian Donnelly v. Slingshot Sports, LLC

Dear Mr. Dwyer: I haven't heard from you in response to my December 6, 2007 letter and presume that you agree (as we discussed with the Court) to produce documents responsive to my request by tomorrow afternoon. To avoid any issues, I am enclosing a Notice of Deposition for a Slingshot designee on January 4, 2008 at 2:00 p.m. EST (it's the last date I provided in my letter). As I explained in my previous letter and today in a telephone message, the designee will be asked about Slingshot's efforts to obtain all of the documents identified in the Request for Production of Documents and the topics identified therein. Thank you for your cooperation. Very truly yours,

Gregory G. Hopper Enclosure.