National Industrial Sand Ass'n v. Gibson

in which HIGHTOWER, HECHT, SPECTOR and OWEN, Justices, join.

This original mandamus action involves the overruling of a special appearance filed pursuant to Rule 120a of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure. Relator, National Industrial Sand Association (NISA), is a defendant in three consolidated silicosis lawsuits in Ector County. NISA argued that it lacked the minimum contacts with Texas necessary for the trial court to assert personal jurisdiction under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. U.S. Const, amend. XIV, § 1; see Burger King Corp. v. Rudzewicz, 471 U.S. 462, 471-72,…