Nicholas Halks, Plaintiff, v. APC (2025)

MEMORANDUM & ORDER

Pending before the Court is the Report and Recommendation of United States Magistrate Judge, Jennifer C. Boal, and an intervening motion of plaintiff, Nicholas Halks (“plaintiff”), to transfer venue to the Southern District of California pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a).

After careful consideration of the Report and Recommendation and plaintiff's objection thereto, this Court agrees with the magistrate judge that it lacks personal jurisdiction over defendants and, even if it had personal jurisdiction, defendant's motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim ought to be denied.

Most importantly, plaintiff originally contacted defendants. They, by contrast, engaged in no affirmative conduct relating to Massachusetts, such as conducting business or advertising, apart from a few confirmatory emails. Defendants have not “transact[ed] any business” in Massachusetts sufficient to come within the scope of the long-arm statute. See Lyle Richards Int'l, Ltd. v. Ashworth, Inc., 132 F.3d 111, 112-13 (1st Cir. 1997). Even if that statutory requirement had been met, moreover, defendants did not purposefully avail themselves of the privilege of conducting business in Massachusetts nor would the exercise of jurisdiction over them be reasonable. See Sawtelle v. Farrell, 70 F.3d 1381, 1389 (1st Cir. 1995). The Report and Recommendation will therefore be adopted.

Because this Court lacks personal jurisdiction over defendants, the motion to transfer venue to the Southern District of California, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a), will also be denied. Where, as here, a court lacks personal jurisdiction, transfer of venue under § 1404(a) is “clearly inappropriate.” Albion v. YMCA Camp Letts, 171 F.3d 1, 2 (1st Cir. 1999).

ORDER

For the foregoing reasons, the Report and Recommendation (Docket No. 28) is ACCEPTED AND ADOPTED and the motion of plaintiff to transfer venue (Docket No. 29) is DENIED.

So ordered.

Nathaniel M. Gorton United States District Judge