This is the fifth appellate decision spawned by this litigation. After a first trial resulted in judgments in favor of plaintiffs, defendants appealed and were granted new trials.
Uniroyal Goodrich Tire Co. v. Ford,
The facts as pertinent to this appeal. In August 1989, Claudia and Franklin Ford, mother and son, were passengers in a van which was immobilized on Interstate 85 when a tire separated from the wheel and wrapped around the rear axle. Another vehicle struck the disabled van from behind, causing Franklin Ford to suffer severe and permanent brain damage, and Claudia Ford to suffer a fractured leg. They brought separate lawsuits in Fulton County State Court in 1991:
The Franklin Ford lawsuit. Franklin Ford sued B. F. Goodrich Tire Company and International Automotive Corporation d/b/a NTW (“NTW”). 1 The Uniroyal Goodrich Tire Company Partnership (“UGTC Partnership”) 2 voluntarily appeаred and entered into a consent order substituting itself as the correct party defendant for B. F. Goodrich Tire Company. Ford I at (2). In so doing, the UGTC Partnership adоpted the answer of B. F. Goodrich. The answer admits that defendant transacted business in the state of Georgia, that service could be made upon its registered agent in Fulton County, and that it is subject to both the jurisdiction and venue of the State Court of Fulton County.
*731 The Claudia Ford lawsuit. Claudia Ford, along with her husband who claimed loss of consortium, jointly sued Uniroyal Goodrich Tire Company, and NTW. Although the lawsuit did not distinguish the UGTC Partnership from the Uniroyal Goodrich Tire Company Corporation (“UGTC Corporation”), 3 the UGTC Corporation was served with the complaint through its registered agent for service of process in Clayton County, Georgia. Ford I at (2).
Procedural history. Prior to trial, plаintiffs in both actions entered into Compromise Release Agreements with NTW, in which they agreed to “ ‘release and discharge all claims’ against NTW.” Ford I at (4) (a). Thereafter, both UGTC defendants filed motions to transfer venue, maintaining that NTW as the only Fulton County defendant was subject to dismissal, and that with its dismissal, venue no longer lay in Fultоn County. The trial court denied the motion; defendants did not seek interlocutory review.
On the eve of trial, the court granted motions filed by plaintiffs in both actions to add party defendants. As a result, the UGTC Corporation was added as a defendant in the Franklin Ford suit; and the UGTC Partnership was added in the Claudia Ford suit. 4 And although рlaintiffs in both actions had executed releases with NTW as to all claims, the trial court refused to dismiss NTW, directing that it remain as a defendant in the trial of both cases. Both lawsuits were tried simultaneously in the same courtroom in Fulton State Court, with two separate juries simultaneously hearing all common evidence. Verdicts were returned in favor of plaintiffs, and appeals were taken. Ford I.
The Court of Appeals in Ford I at (4), determined that the trial court committed reversible error in refusing to dismiss NTW because no claims were pending against it at the time of trial as a result of the releases. That ruling was not disturbed by this Court in Ford II and thus remains the law of the case.
On remand, both UGTC defendants again filed mоtions to transfer venue, asserting that venue in Fulton County vanished with the dismissal of NTW. The trial court agreed and transferred venue to *732 DeKalb County. 5
1. Remaining defendants. Both UGTC defendants remain as defеndants in each lawsuit. See fn. 4, infra. Defendants acknowledged below that by virtue of the ruling in Ford I, the addition of party defendants stands affirmed by operation of law; and both UGTC defendants continued to participate in both lawsuits.
2. Venue as to the UGTC Partnership. For the reasons which follow, we conclude that venue as to the Partnership lies in Fulton County.
While organized as a general partnership under the laws of New York state, the Partnership acknowledged that at the time of suit, and at all times rеlevant to this litigation, at least one of its general partners has been a resident of Fulton County. “A partnership may be sued in any county in which one of [its gеneral] partners resides.”
Reading Assoc. v. Reading Assoc. of Ga.,
For jurisdictional purposes, a “nonrеsident” partnership is defined as one which is “not residing, domiciled, organized, or existing in this state at the time a claim or cause of action . . . arises.” OCGA § 9-10-90. WTien “a partnership is spoken of by its partnership name, and said to reside or not to reside in any place, the meaning, it is to be presumed, is that the members composing the partnership, reside or do not reside in the place.”
Chambers, Jeffers &c. v. Sloan, Hawkins &c.,
We reject the Partnership’s claim that vеnue over it must be established under the Long Arm Statute, which provides a basis for exercising personal jurisdiction over a nonresident. See OCGA § 9-10-91. The Long Arm Statute was not invoked in exercising jurisdiction over the Partnership, and never entered into this litigation until the Partnership asserted it as a basis to transfer venue to the county wherе the accident occurred.
Under the unique circumstances of this case, the Partnership cannot be deemed a nonresident partnership for purposes of venue.
3. Venue as
to the UGTC Corporation.
Both UGTC defendants
*733
are alleged to be joint tortfeasors. See
Mitchell v. Gilson,
In answer to the Claudia Ford complaint, the Corporation admitted that it is a Dеlaware corporation which transacts business in Georgia, it may be served through its registered agent in Clayton County, and it is subject both to the jurisdiction and venue of the State Court of Fulton County. “A foreign corporation registered to do business in Georgia is deemed to ‘reside’ in Georgia for venue purposеs, OCGA § 14-2-510.”
Goodman v. Vilston, Inc.,
Judgments reversed.
Notes
NTW is the retailer of the tire.
The UGTC Partnership is the manufacturer of the tire.
The UGTC Corporation is a Delaware corporation which is one of three general partnеrs of the UGTC Partnership.
While the majority opinion of the Court of Appeals in
Ford
I at (2) purported to find reversible error in the addition of party defendants on the eve of trial without service of process and over objections by the added defendants, the eight participating members of the court were evenly divided as to that question. Because the Court of Appeals was not equally divided on
all
questions presented, it was not required that the case be transmitted to this Court for resolution of the joinder issue undеr Art. VI, Sec. V, Par. V of the Georgia Constitution.
See Atlantic Coast Line R. Co. v. Clinard,
The court determined that venue as to the UGTC Corрoration lies in Clayton County where the registered agent is located; venue as to the UGTC Partnership is determined under the Long Arm Statute which, in this case, is DeKаlb County where the accident occurred. Because the UGTC Partnership consented to venue in Clayton County, the trial court offered plaintiffs the choice of Clayton or DeKalb, and they chose DeKalb.
OCGA § 9-10-31 provides: “Joint or joint and several obligors or promisors, or joint contractors, or copartners, residing in different counties, may be subject to an action as such in the same action in any county in which one or more of the defendants reside.”