PERNELL BARKER, APPELLANT,
v.
VONNIE RENE ANDERSON, WAL-MART STORES, INC., AND EVERETT D. CAUDLE, APPELLEES
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Pernell Barker, driver of a rented van, appeals a jury verdict finding him 70% comparatively negligent for injuries sustained by his passenger when struck by a Wal-Mart truck at a Georgia intersection. The Florida appellate court affirmed the trial court's application of Georgia law and the verdict.
The trial court properly applied Georgia law to all substantive issues because Georgia was not only the place of injury but also had multiple significant contacts including Wal-Mart's distribution center location there, the truck's operation out of that center, and the driver's Georgia residency. The jury verdict finding Barker 70% comparatively negligent was affirmed.
[1] The place of injury is the primary contact to be considered in determining the applicable choice of law in personal injury actions, and under most circumstances, it is th…
[2] A state's law may apply to a personal injury action occurring within its borders if the state has significant contacts beyond merely being the location of the injury, suc…
Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“the place of injury is the primary contact to be considered, and under most circumstances the state where the injury occurred would be the decisive consideration in determining the applicable choice of law.”
Establishes the primacy of the place of injury under the significant relationships test, though not an absolute rule.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceBarker and Anderson, both Florida residents, were traveling in a rented van from Florida to Pennsylvania when their vehicle was struck by a Wal-Mart t…
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THOMPSON, Judge.
Pernell Barker, the defendant and cross-plaintiff below, appeals a jury verdict finding him 70 percent comparatively negligent for the personal injuries sustained by appellee Vonnie Rene Anderson when the rented van being driven by Barker, in which Anderson was a passenger, was struck by a truck owned by appellee Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. at an intersection in Clinch County, Georgia. We affirm.
Because the collision occurred in Georgia, Anderson successfully sought to have the trial court apply Georgia law on the issues of negligence and joint and several liability. The trial court took judicial notice of Ga.Code Ann. §§ 40-1-1(47); 40-6-70, 40-6-72; 40-6-180, 40-6-181, and held that the negligence of cross-plaintiff Barker must be less than that of defendant Wal-Mart in order for there to be any recovery by Barker on his cross-claim.
Barker asserts on appeal, inter alia, that the trial court erred in deciding to apply Georgia law to all substantive issues. We disagree. The evidence adduced below established that Barker and Anderson are both Florida residents. The van in which they were riding was rented in Florida, and they were embarking on a trip to Pennsylvania which was to begin and end in Florida. The collision occurred in Georgia. Wal-Mart is a Delaware Corporation with its headquarters in Arkansas and retail outlets nationwide. The Wal-Mart truck involved in the collision was on the return leg of a trip from a Georgia distribution warehouse to Florida, and its driver was a Georgia resident. The truck in question generally operated out of the Georgia warehouse although a substantial portion of its mileage on the trip during which the collision occurred was logged in Florida.
Bishop v. Florida Specialty Paint Co., 389 So. 2d 999 (Fla.1980) sets forth the “significant relationships test” which the parties agree controls the issue of which state’s laws are applicable in personal injury actions in which the injury occurred in another state. Bishop modified the traditional lex loci delicti rule and adopted a more flexible approach which takes into consideration other pertinent factors in addition to the place of injury. Nevertheless, Bishop stresses that its modification of the strict place of injury rule does not eliminate the significancé of the place of injury. On the contrary, the place of injury is the primary contact to be considered, and under most circumstances the state where the injury occurred would be the decisive consideration in determining the applicable choice of law. Bishop at 1001.
In the instant case not only was Georgia the place of injury, but Wal-Mart had other miscellaneous contacts with that state. Its distribution center was located there and the truck involved was operating out of that distribution center. Further, its truck driver was a resident of Georgia. In addition, Barker asserted that the Georgia intersection where the collision occurred was unreasonably hazardous. The occurrence of the collision in Georgia was not pure happenstance or completely fortuitous as may be the place of injury in cases involving the crash of an airplane. Bishop; Harris v. Berkowitz, 433 So. 2d 613 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983). Therefore, we believe the trial court properly found that Georgia law should be applied. The remaining issues raised by Barker on appeal do not mandate reversal. Accordingly, we affirm.
SMITH and MINER, JJ., concur.
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Citator
Cited By
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Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Budget Rent-A-Car Sys., 567 So. 2d 918 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990)…court followed the “significant relationships” tests set forth in Bishop v. Florida Specialty Paint Co., 389 So. 2d 999 (Fla.1980) in affirming the trial court’s application of Georgia law to the issues raised in that litigation. Barker v. Anderson, 546 So. 2d 449 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989). Wal-Mart subsequently filed an action for contribution in the same court against Barker as joint tortfeasor, and against Budget, Precision, Express and Washington as vicariously liable parties under Florida’s dangerous instrume…
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Flatirons Bank v. The Alan W. Steinberg Ltd. P'ship, 233 So. 3d 1207 (Fla. 3d DCA 2017)…25 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987), and concluded that, although the lawsuit was filed in Florida, Cayman Island law should have been applied, and therefore, the trial court’s failure to apply Cayman Island law was reversible error. See also Barker v. Anderson, 546 So. 2d 449, 450 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989) (concluding that the significant relationships test controlled the issue of which state’s law was applicable, where the lawsuit was filed in Florida but the injury occurred in Georgia and, after performing the Bishop analysi…
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Connell v. Riggins, 944 So. 2d 1174 (Fla. 1st DCA 2006)…business of Connell & Son, Inc., and the location of the circuit court where the lawsuit was filed. As a matter of law, Florida does not have a more significant relationship than Georgia to the occurrence and to the parties. See Barker v. Anderson, 546 So. 2d 449, 450 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989) (affirming Florida trial court’s determination that Georgia law applied to issues of negligence and joint and several liability in action arising out of automobile accident, even though plaintiff and defendant were Florida r…
Authorities Cited
- Althea G. Bishop and William J. Bishop, Sr. v. Fla. Specialty Paint Co., 389 So. 2d 999 (Fla. 1980)
- Harris v. Berkowitz, 433 So. 2d 613 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983)