## Facts

- Smith operated a hotel in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, and objected to a critical article about his hotel published in Townsend’s Chicago newspaper.
- Smith sought to sue Townsend for civil libel in Wisconsin but could not readily serve him in Illinois.
- Smith allegedly induced Townsend to travel to Wisconsin by falsely offering to pay expenses for a property inspection tied to a potential advertisement or sale.
- After Townsend arrived in Milwaukee, he was arrested on a criminal-libel complaint initiated by Smith.
- While Townsend was in custody, Smith served him with a civil-libel summons based on the same publication.
- Townsend, through counsel, entered a special appearance and obtained an order to show cause why service should not be quashed for fraud, along with a stay of proceedings pending that determination.
- Smith denied any scheme to lure Townsend into Wisconsin for civil service and asserted the decision to serve civil process arose only after Townsend’s arrest.
- The circuit court denied the motion to quash, ruling that Townsend’s request for a show-cause order and stay constituted a general appearance that waived objections to service and personal jurisdiction.

## Issues

1. Whether personal jurisdiction may be asserted based on in-state service when the defendant’s presence in the state was procured by the plaintiff’s fraud, trick, or artifice connected to the dispute.
2. Whether a defendant waives jurisdictional and service objections by taking procedural steps incident to a special appearance, including obtaining a show-cause order and a stay while moving to quash service.

## Decision

- The Wisconsin Supreme Court reversed the order refusing to quash service.
- The court held that service obtained by fraudulently inducing a nonresident defendant into Wisconsin would not be sustained.
- The court held that Townsend’s actions were consistent with a special appearance and did not waive his objections to jurisdiction or service.
- The court directed that the summons be quashed, depriving the circuit court of personal jurisdiction over Townsend in the civil-libel action.

## Legal Principles

- A court will set aside service of process on a nonresident when the plaintiff procures the defendant’s in-state presence through fraud, deceit, trick, or artifice tied to the litigation.
- Courts will not permit their process to be used to secure an advantage obtained through the plaintiff’s wrongful conduct in creating the jurisdictional basis for service.
- A defendant may appear specially to contest personal jurisdiction or the validity of service without waiving the objection.
- Procedural measures incident to a jurisdictional challenge—such as seeking a stay to prevent further proceedings while service is tested—do not convert a special appearance into a general appearance.

## Conclusion

The court refused to allow jurisdiction to rest on service accomplished by luring a nonresident into the state through deceit connected to the suit and held that a special appearance to quash service, including requesting a stay, preserves jurisdictional objections rather than waiving them.


Townsend v. Smith, 47 Wis. 623, 3 N.W. 439 (Wis. 1879)