Personal Jurisdiction’s Two Prong Inquiry

If you are suing a nonresident defendant, i.e., you are NOT located in Florida, this two-step inquiry to determine whether Florida courts have personal jurisdiction over you--the nonresident defendant--is important: Florida courts conduct a two-step inquiry to determine whether a court has personal jurisdiction over a nonresident defendant. First, it must be determined that the complaint alleges sufficient jurisdictional facts to bring the action within the ambit of the statute; and if it does, the next inquiry is whether sufficient “minimum contacts” are demonstrated to satisfy due process requirements. The first prong -- i.e., the statutory prong -- … is governed by Florida's...

13 December

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PLEAD SUFFICIENT ALLEGATIONS SUPPORTING PERSONAL JURISDICTION

Posted by David Adelstein

in Trial Perspectives

Remember when drafting a complaint, jurisdictional allegations are important. This is especially true if you are suing a defendant located outside of Florida. Jurisdictional allegations should be plead with detail supporting the factual basis for personal jurisdiction. There should be a consideration that a nonresident defendant may challenge personal jurisdiction and the very FIRST STEP in a court’s analysis in determining personal jurisdiction “is to determine whether the complaint alleges sufficient jurisdictional facts to bring the action within the ambit of Florida’s long-arm statute, section 48.193, Florida Statutes.” Williamson v. Prime Sports Marketing, LLC, 45 Fla.L.Weekly D268a (Fla. 3d DCA 2020). ...

06 September

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Personal Jurisdiction and Florida Court’s Two-Prong Analysis

Posted by David Adelstein

in Trial Perspectives

When a defendant is sued, a court needs to have personal jurisdiction over that party. It is a due process consideration to ensure the court has authority over that party. A court’s ruling as to personal jurisdiction over a party will give a right to an immediate appeal. The issue of personal jurisdiction is generally confronted when the defendant is a foreign person or company, i.e., not operating in Florida, being sued in Florida. Making the decision to sue a foreign person or company in Florida needs to consider personal jurisdiction including the appellate right associated with a court's ruling on...

18 June

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Appeals Regarding Personal Jurisdiction

Posted by David Adelstein

in Appeal

In a matter where a commercial landlord sued its tenant’s personal guarantors as the result of the tenant’s breach of the lease, the guarantors moved to dismiss the lawsuit based on personal jurisdiction. Check here for more on this matter. A trial court’s ruling on personal jurisdiction is an immediately appealable ruling--a trial court’s determination relating to personal jurisdiction is an immediately appealable non-final order (non-final order meaning the order does not finally dispose of the lawsuit). See Fla.R.App.P. 9.130(a)(3)(C)(i). A determination on personal jurisdiction is an important issue. If a court grants a motion to dismiss based on lack of personal...