Victor Schroeder v. Christina G. Bell and Auto Owners Insurance Company (mem. dec.) ( 2019 )

MEMORANDUM DECISION
Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D),
this Memorandum Decision shall not be FILED
regarded as precedent or cited before any Jul 25 2019, 10:18 am
court except for the purpose of establishing CLERK
the defense of res judicata, collateral Indiana Supreme Court
Court of Appeals
and Tax Court
estoppel, or the law of the case.
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE
Gabriel A. Hawkins Christopher L. Lafuse
Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis, Indiana
IN THE
COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA
Victor Schroeder, July 25, 2019
Appellant-Plaintiff, Court of Appeals Case No.
19A-CT-636
v. Appeal from the Marion Superior
Court
Christina G. Bell and Auto The Honorable Marc T.
Owners Insurance Company, Rothenberg, Judge
Appellees-Defendants Trial Court Cause No.
49D07-1901-CT-3379
Altice, Judge.
Case Summary
[1] This lawsuit arose from a motor vehicle accident between Victor Schroeder and
Christina Bell in Dubois County. Schroeder filed suit in Marion County
against both Bell and Auto-Owners Insurance Company (AOIC). Thereafter,
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pursuant to Indiana Trial Rule 75, Bell filed a motion for change of venue from
Marion County to Dubois County, arguing that the former is not a county of
preferred venue in this case. The trial court granted the motion.
[2] On appeal, Schroeder contends, as he did below, that Marion County is a
county of preferred venue because AOIC’s registered agent is located there.
Our Supreme Court has just held otherwise in Morrison v. Vasquez, No. 19S-CT-
382 (June 27, 2019). Thus, the trial court properly granted the motion for
change of venue and ordered the case transferred to Dubois County.
[3] We affirm and remand.
Facts & Procedural History
[4] On January 24, 2019, Schroeder filed his complaint against Bell and AOIC. He
asserted a negligence claim against Bell and an underinsured motorist claim
against AOIC, as well as a declaratory judgment claim to determine the value
of AOIC’s subrogation claim. The parties do not dispute that AOIC is a foreign
corporation with its registered agent located in Marion County. Nor do the
parties dispute that the motor vehicle accident giving rise to the complaint
occurred in Dubois County. Schroeder filed the complaint in Marion County
“because AOIC’s registered agent is located in Marion County.” Appellant’s
Brief at 5.
[5] On February 25, 2019, Bell filed a motion for change of venue, seeking transfer
of the case to Dubois County. In her motion, Bell argued that, unlike Dubois
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County, Marion County was not a preferred venue because the location of a
corporation’s registered agent no longer determines venue. Schroeder opposed
the motion and argued that AOIC was a foreign corporation and that the
location of its registered agent in Indiana established preferred venue in Marion
County. On March 14, 2019, the trial court granted Bell’s motion and
transferred the case to Dubois County. Schroeder now brings this interlocutory
appeal pursuant to Indiana Appellate Rule 14(A)(8).
Discussion & Decision
[6] In the last year, following the promulgation of new business corporation
statutes 1 that went into effect on January 1, 2018, the law became unsettled
regarding whether the location of a corporation’s registered agent still
established preferred venue under T.R. 75(A)(4). See Ind. Univ. Health S. Ind.
Physicians, Inc. v. Noel, 114 N.E.3d 479 (Ind. Ct. App. 2018) (holding that
location of defendant corporation’s registered agent was a preferred venue
under T.R. 75(A)(4)), trans. granted; Morrison v. Vasquez, 107 N.E.3d 1103 (Ind.
Ct. App. 2018) (holding that address of defendant corporation’s registered agent
did not determine preferred venue), trans. granted.
1
Most notably, Ind. Code § 23-0.5-4-12 provides: “The designation or maintenance in Indiana of a registered
agent does not by itself create the basis for personal jurisdiction over the represented entity in Indiana. The
address of the agent does not determine venue in an action or a proceeding involving the entity.”
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[7] In a consolidated opinion issued on June 27, 2019, the Indiana Supreme Court
“clear[ed] up the confusion.” Morrison, slip op. at 3. The holding of the
majority of the Court could not be clearer:
We hold that a domestic organization’s actual principal office
and not the location of its registered agent is the appropriate
preferred venue. Further, we hold that in light of new business
corporation statutes that define “principal office” and provide
that the registered agent’s location does not determine venue, the
location of the registered agent no longer determines preferred venue for
either domestic or foreign corporations. We affirm the trial court in
Morrison and reverse the trial court in Noel and remand both for
further proceedings.
Id. at 8 (emphasis supplied).
[8] In the case at hand, Marion County – the location of AOIC’s registered agent –
does not determine preferred venue. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court’s
grant of Bell’s motion for change of venue and remand for transfer of the case to
Dubois County. 2
[9] Affirmed and remanded.
Kirsch, J. and Vaidik, C.J., concur.
2
In passing, Schroeder asserts that Bell failed to present evidence in favor of her motion for change of venue.
Schroeder did not make this argument to the trial court, likely because the facts were never in dispute and the
issue presented to the trial court was purely a legal one.
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