Mr. Walsh successfully argued an exception of lack of personal jurisdiction on behalf of an Irish underwriter on a travel insurance policy issued to an English couple. The couple traveled to Louisiana, where the wife became very ill and received medical care at Northshore Regional Medical Center that ultimately cost over one million dollars. Under the terms of their travel policy, though, they were required to be repatriated when a doctor deemed her "fit to fly." The underwriter authorized payment of her medical expenses up to the time of the couple's refusal to be repatriated. Northshore Regional Medical Center sued the underwriter, Whitehorse Ireland Insurance, Ltd., on open account for the outstanding balance of $800,000.00. The plaintiff medical center argued that Whitehorse, by underwriting a policy of travel insurance covering travel to the United States, should have anticipated being hauled into court in Louisiana. The couple also opposed the exception. Following three separate hearings and numerous post-hearing memoranda, Judge William J. "Rusty" Knight granted Whitehorse's exception, writing that underwriting a global travel policy and authorizing a payment did not subject a company that otherwise has no connection to the forum state to personal jurisdiction. 
Northshore Regional Medical Center, L.L.C., d/b/a Northshore Regional Medical Center v. Edith and Brian Dill, et al., No. 2009-16791, Division J, 22nd JDC, Parish of St. Tammany.