Case: American Business Financial Services, Incorporated v. First Union National Bank

American Business Financial Services, Inc. (ABFI), a Pennsylvania firm, sells and services loans to businesses and consumers. First Union National Bank, with its principal place of business in North Carolina, provides banking services. Alan Boyer, an employee of First Union, lives in North Carolina and has never been to Pennsylvania. In the course of his employment, Boyer learned that the bank was going to extend a $150 million line of credit to ABFI. Boyer than attempted to manipulate the price of ABFI's stock for personal gain by sending disparaging e-mails to ABFI's independent auditors in Pennsylvania. Boyer also posted negative statements about ABFI and its management on a Yahoo bulletin board. ABFI sued Boyer, First Union and others in a Pennsylvania state court, alleging wrongful interference with a contractual relationship. Boyer filed a motion to dismiss the complaint for lack of personal jurisdiction.

III. Question

Can the Pennsylvania court exercise personal jurisdiction over Boyer? Why or why not Fully explain your answer.

Use LexisNexis Academic (found in the online course guide discussed in unit one) and provide a case or article to support your conclusion. Summarize your research, explain why the case or article is helpful in deciding whether a Pennsylvania court can exercise personal jurisdiction over Boyer, and provide a citation for your research (URL or case citation is fine).

Hint: Do not worry about the underlying claim of wrongful interference with a contractual relationship. The issue here is whether the Pennsylvania court can exercise personal jurisdiction over Boyer.