SHELDON GODFREY ET AL., APPELLANTS,
v.
VERICA NEUMANN ET AL., APPELLEES
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Section 48.193(1)(b), Florida Statutes, is constitutional as it provides sufficient minimum contacts for personal jurisdiction over a nonresident who commits a tort in Florida.
[1] A state's "long arm" statute providing for personal jurisdiction over a nonresident who commits a tortious act within the state is constitutional and satisfies the "minim…
[2] Committing a tortious act within a state establishes sufficient "minimum contacts" with that state to justify the acquisition of in personam jurisdiction over the nonresi…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligencePlaintiffs sued Canadian citizens for injuries sustained in a Florida condominium pool, alleging negligence by their minor son. Service was attempted …
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ALDERMAN, Justice.
This cause is before us to review an interlocutory order of the circuit court of Palm Beach County upholding the constitutionality of section 48.193(l)(b), Florida Statutes (1977).1 We treat the interlocutory appeal as a petition for writ of certiorari and take jurisdiction pursuant to article V, section 3(b)(3), Florida Constitution. Burnsed v. Seaboard Coastline Railroad Co., 290 So. 2d 13 (Fla.1974).2
The sole question for our consideration is whether subsection (l)(b) of section 48.193 (Florida’s “long arm” statute), which provides that personal jurisdiction over, a nonresident who has committed a tort in-Florida may be acquired by personally serving the nonresident outside of Florida, is unconstitutional because it fails to satisfy the “minimum contacts” requirement of the due process clause of the federal constitu tion. We hold that section 48.193(l)(b) is constitutional and deny the writ.
Mrs. Neumann and her husband, the plaintiffs in the trial court, filed a complaint for damages against Willie Godfrey, a minor, and his father, alleging that Mrs. Neumann sustained injuries while swimming in a pool at a condominium complex located in Palm Beach County. The complaint alleged that these injuries were the result of Willie’s negligence in jumping from the pool’s diving board onto Mrs. Neu-mann’s back. Willie and his father are Canadian citizens, residing in Toronto, and they were vacationing at the condominium complex at the time of the alleged accident. Relying on section 48.193(l)(b) to obtain personal jurisdiction over the defendants, the plaintiffs had Willie’s father personally served with a copy of the complaint, along with a copy of the summons, at his office in Toronto.
Willie and his father filed a motion to quash process and service of summons, arguing, among other things, that section 48.-193(l)(b) is unconstitutional on the ground that personal jurisdiction cannot be constitutionally obtained over a nonresident for a single isolated alleged tortious act because it does not meet the “minimum contacts” test set forth in International Shoe Co. v. Washington, 326 U.S. 310, 66 S.Ct. 154, 90 L.Ed. 95 (1945). The circuit court found section 48.193(l)(b) to be constitutional and denied the motion to quash as to Willie’s father. However, the motion was granted as to Willie because the court found that service upon him was defective in that it failed to comply with the requirements for service upon a minor as prescribed by section 48.041.
In International Shoe Co. v. Washington and McGee v. International Life Insurance Co., 355 U.S. 220, 78 S.Ct. 199, 2 L.Ed.2d 223 (1957), the Supreme Court held that the due process clause requires that in order to subject a nonresident defendant to in personam jurisdiction, it must be shown that the defendant has certain “minimum contacts” with the forum so that the maintenance of the suit would not offend “traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice.” In Rosenblatt v. American Cyanamid Co., 86 S.Ct. 1, 15 L.Ed.2d 39 (1965), the Supreme Court was asked to determine whether that portion of the New York “long arm” statute which provides for in personam jurisdiction on the basis of the commission of a tortious act in the state meets this “minimum contacts” test. The Supreme Court upheld the constitutional validity of the statute, stating:
The logic of this Court’s decisions in International Shoe Co. v. Washington, 326 U.S. 310, 66 S.Ct. 154, 90 L.Ed. 95, 161 A.L.R. 1057, and McGee v. International Life Ins. Co., 355 U.S. 220, 78 S.Ct. 199, 2 L.Ed.2d 223, supports the validity of state “long arm” statutes such as the one involved here which base in personam jurisdiction upon commission of a “tortious act” in the forum State. Since those decisions a large number of States have enacted statutes similar to the one here. In cases under these statutes in state and federal courts, jurisdiction on the basis of a single tort has been uniformly upheld.
86 S.Ct. at 3, 15 L.Ed.2d at 43. Even prior to the decision in Rosenblatt v. American Cyanamid Co., “long arm” statutes with provisions similar to section 48.193(l)(b) had been sustained against constitutional attack in other states. See Smyth v. Twin State Improvement Corp., 116 Vt. 569, 80 A. 2d 664 (1951), and Nelson v. Miller, 11 Ill.2d 378, 143 N.E. 2d 673 (1957).
We hold that section 48.193(l)(b) is constitutional because we find that by committing a tort in Florida a nonresident establishes sufficient “minimum contacts” with Florida to justify the acquisition of in personam jurisdiction over him by personally serving him outside the state.
Accordingly, the writ is denied.
ENGLAND, C. J., and ADKINS, BOYD, OVERTON and SUNDBERG, JJ., concur. . Section 48.193, Florida Statutes, provides in pertinent part:
48.193 Acts subjecting persons to jurisdiction of courts of state.—
(1) Any person, whether or not a citizen or resident of this state, who personally or through an agent does any of the acts enumerated in this subsection thereby submits that person and, if he is a natural person, his personal representative to the jurisdiction of the courts of this state for any cause of action arising from the doing of any of the following:
(b) Commits a tortious act within this state.
(2) Service of process upon any person who is subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of this state is provided in this section may be made by personally serving the process upon the defendant outside this state as provided in s. 48.194. The service shall have the same effect as if it had been personally served within this state.
. This cause was initially appealed to the Fourth District Court of Appeal and then transferred by the Fourth District to this Court.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By (25 total)
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Silver v. Levinson, 648 So. 2d 240 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994)…defendant to in personam jurisdiction based on a single, isolated transaction by the nonresident defendant does not necessarily offend due process. Lacy v. Force V Corporation, 403 So. 2d 1050, 1054 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981); see also Godfrey v. Neumann, 373 So. 2d 920 (Fla.1979). Doe does not hold otherwise. The analysis must focus on the nature of the act. When dealing with isolated acts of a defendant, rather than centering on continuous economic activity within the state, a key focus is the quality and nature…
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Martin Acquadro, M.D. v. Bergeron, 851 So. 2d 665 (Fla. 2003)…defendant to in personam jurisdiction based on a single, isolated transaction by the nonresident defendant does not necessarily offend due process. Lacy v. Force V Corporation, 403 So. 2d 1050, 1054 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981); see also Godfrey v. Neumann, 373 So. 2d 920 (Fla.1979). Doe does not hold otherwise. The analysis must focus on the nature of the act. When dealing with isolated acts of a defendant, rather than centering on continuous economic activity within the state, a key focus is the quality and nature…
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Int'l Harvester Co. v. Mann, 460 So. 2d 580 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984)…concern. Ap-pellee also correctly states that the com [*582] mission of a tort within Florida by a nonresident is a sufficient “minimum contact” with Florida to justify personal jurisdiction in light of the federal constitution. Godfrey v. Neumann, 373 So. 2d 920 (Fla.1979). The Florida courts have consistently held that a plaintiff seeking to assert long-arm jurisdiction over a non-resident must allege in his complaint sufficient facts to fall within the language of Section 48.-193, Florida Statutes. Wynn…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Int'l Shoe Co. v. State OF Wash., 326 U.S. 310 (U.S. 1945)
- McGEE v. Int'l Life Ins. Co., 355 U.S. 220 (U.S. 1957)
- Burnsed v. Seaboard Coastline R.R. Co., 290 So. 2d 13 (Fla. 1974)