Oral Arguments Set in Challenge to Wisconsin Ski Resort’s Dispute Whether Illinois Courts May Exercise Personal Jurisdiction Over It

For Immediate Release: October 28, 2014

Chicago, IL – Ski Enterprise Corporation of Wisconsin, Inc. ("Ski Enterprise") is a Wisconsin corporation that operates Devil’s Head Ski Resort in Merrimac, Wisconsin. The company goes to great lengths to solicit and, then, engage Illinois residents to come to Devil’s Head Ski Resort. Those substantial efforts have borne fruit. In fact, approximately 60-75% of the vacationers at or clients of Devil’s Head Ski Resort are from Illinois. The business derived from Illinois consumers represents that a significant percentage of Ski Enterprise's total revenue. The plaintiff ("Kipp") is an Illinois resident, who was injured as a result of the negligence of Ski Enterprise in its operation of one of its chairlifts.

Kipp sued Ski Enterprise in United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois for personal injuries. Ski Enterprise filed its appearance and, then, moved to dismiss the action on grounds that the court did not have personal jurisdiction over it. The district court ruled that the court’s exercise of Illinois' long-arm jurisdiction over Ski Enterprise would offend due process notions of fair play and substantial justice. The district court, therefore, granted Ski Enterprise's motion to dismiss the action. Kipp appealed the district court's decision.

WHAT: Oral arguments begin in Kipp v. Ski Enterprise Corporation of Wisconsin, Inc. (Docket No. 14-2527).

WHO: Craig M. Sandberg will argue for Kipp, before a panel of judges in United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

WHEN: Tuesday, December 2, 2014 at 9:30 a.m.

WHERE: United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, Everett McKinley Dirksen United States Courthouse, 219 South Dearborn Street, Room 2721, Chicago, Illinois