Suing an out-of-state broker in your state under the Long Arm

Not for purpose of providing legal advice, but I take as non-lawyers we’re not prohibited from "disseminating legal info" for personal reasons, like discussing the law and legal stuff.. So I ask everyone with the right knowledge here to chip in on the issue of suing in your local court under the Long Arm statutes a broker who’s incorporated in different state.

Say you’re a carrier in Ohio, and the broker from WA screwed you for payment. The “minimum sufficient contact with the state requirements” to be able to sue an outsider under your state’s Long Arm provisions vary from state to state. I get that. However, because we’re talking about freight brokers, I think this should be a relatively simple criteria. Unless the broker in question is strictly an “intrastate” operator, they likely have contracted customers in your state—shippers and receivers—where they send trucks to/from all day long. In such case, a minimum sufficient contact requirement in most, if not all, states for the purpose of their Long Arm should likely be satisfied?

Now, let’s assume I’m correct above. Say you’re allowed bring the suit against that shady broker from WA in your local Ohio court under its Long Arm. Say you prove your facts and win. Say you get the judgment. And now comes the trouble, of course. Statistically what, 75% of all judgments in this country never get collected? Much worse if the judgment you’re proudly holding is against someone from a foreign jurisdiction. Sure, supposedly you could domesticate your OH judgment in WA, but at what cost? And then what?

In case of freight brokers, however, as a carrier can’t you just go and file your valid OH judgment, or on the basis of your OH judgment file a claim against that WA broker’s bond? Thoughts anyone, opinions, experiences…. Thanks.