Marcus Food Company, a Kansas-based firm, sued its former Canadian independent sales agent Robert DiPanfilo in federal district court in Kansas to recover his alleged 45% share of net losses under a 1999 oral agreement after their decade-long relationship ended. When DiPanfilo failed to appear, the district court entered a default judgment; six-and-a-half months later he moved to vacate it, claiming the court lacked personal jurisdiction and that his delay resulted from excusable neglect. The district court denied the motion, finding both personal and subject-matter jurisdiction and insufficient justification for the delay. The Tenth Circuit affirmed, holding that DiPanfilo’s regular communications with Marcus Food’s Kansas headquarters, expense reimbursements, and business visits established minimum contacts sufficient for personal jurisdiction, and that his unexplained multi-month delay in retaining counsel and filing the motion precluded relief for excusable neglect.

business & regulatoryprocedure