MACKENZIE INSURANCE AGENCIES, INC., APPELLANT,
v.
ATF LINES, INC., APPELLEE

Fla. 1st DCA | 1989-10-20
No. 89-894
BOOTH and BARFIELD, JJ., concur.
550 So. 2d 174 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (1989) Caution
Cited by 4 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

MacKenzie Insurance Agencies appealed the denial of its motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction in a lawsuit brought by ATF Lines. The court reversed, finding that ATF failed to allege sufficient facts to establish jurisdiction under Florida's long-arm statute for insurance contracts.


Holding

The court held that the trial court erred in denying MacKenzie's motion to dismiss. ATF's amended complaint failed to allege sufficient facts to establish jurisdiction under Florida Statutes section 48.193(1)(d), and MacKenzie's uncontroverted evidence demonstrated that the insurance contract did not involve property or risks located in Florida.


Headnotes

[1] A plaintiff must allege sufficient facts to establish personal jurisdiction over a defendant, especially when the defendant makes a prima facie showing of lack of jurisdi…

[2] A complaint alleging that an insurer issued insurance in Florida to a Florida corporation is insufficient to establish personal jurisdiction under Florida Statutes sectio…

Previewing 2 of 5 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

Key Quotes

“We find that, in light of the uncontroverted documents filed by MacKenzie, ATF's amended complaint fails to allege sufficient facts to withstand a motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction.”

Establishes the court's core holding that the complaint was legally insufficient to establish jurisdiction.

Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Facts & Procedural History

ATF Lines, a Florida corporation, sued MacKenzie Insurance Agencies, a Nevada corporation not licensed to do business in Florida. MacKenzie issued a l…

The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.


Opinion of the Court
WIGGINTON, Judge.

WIGGINTON, Judge.

Appellant appeals an order denying its motion to dismiss appellee’s amended complaint for lack of personal jurisdiction and to abate the action. We reverse and remand.

In regard to personal jurisdiction, the original complaint filed by appellee ATF Lines, Inc. [ATF] alleged merely:

2. Plaintiff is a Florida corporation licensed to do business and operating in Okaloosa County, Florida as an insurer for commercial transportation trucklines.

3. That the Defendant, MACKENZIE INSURANCE AGENCIES, INC. is a Nevada corporation otherwise writing liability and other insurance which includes the issuance of said insurance in Okaloo-sa County, Florida to ATF LINES, INC. MacKenzie filed a motion to dismiss the complaint and to abate the action alleging, inter alia, that the court lacked jurisdiction over MacKenzie in that MacKenzie is not licensed to do business in Florida and has not engaged in any activity sufficient to subject it to the jurisdiction of the courts of Florida. An agent of MacKenzie filed an accompanying affidavit stating that Mac-Kenzie had been requested to provide liability insurance for ATF, a Nevada trucking operation; ATF gave its address as Reno, Nevada and MacKenzie procured a liability policy for ATF, at its Reno, Nevada address; MacKenzie was never advised by ATF that its principal place of business was elsewhere and the insurance obtained “was based on tractors and trailers garaged in Reno,” as shown by a schedule attached to the affidavit.

After a hearing, the trial court granted the motion and ATF’s request for leave to amend its complaint. ATF’s amended complaint was identical to the original complaint except that it contained a notarized verification of the contents of the complaint, signed by the executive vice president of ATF. On the same grounds, MacKenzie moved to dismiss the amended complaint and to abate the action. ATF’s attorney filed only a response, contending that the verified amended complaint sufficiently alleged in personam jurisdiction under section 48.-193(l)(d), Florida Statutes, which provides that Florida courts have jurisdiction over one who contracts to insure any person, property, or risk located in the state at the time of the contract.

We find that, in light of the uncontro-verted documents filed by MacKenzie, ATF’s amended complaint fails to allege sufficient facts to withstand a motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction. Undisputedly, ATF’s singular basis for the establishment by a Florida court of personal jurisdiction over MacKenzie is section 48.193(l)(d), Florida Statutes. The only allegation made by ATF which even remotely suggested jurisdiction under that statute was its assertion that MacKenzie issued insurance “in Okaloosa County, Florida to ATF....” However, that statement does not allege that MacKenzie issued insurance in Florida to ATF to cover a person, property, or risk located in Florida at the time of contracting. Further, in its motion, affidavit, and attached schedule, MacKenzie countered any remote indication that it had issued insurance to cover a person, property, or risk located in Florida at the time of contracting.

Therefore, MacKenzie successfully made a prima facie showing of the inapplicability of the statute, thereby shifting the burden to ATF to support its jurisdictional allegations “by affidavit or other proof.” Aetna Life and Casualty Company v. Therm-o-Disc, Inc., 488 So. 2d 83 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986).

See also American Baseball Cap, Inc. v. Duzinski, 308 So. 2d 639, 646 (Fla. 1st DCA 1975).

Unlike the situation in Aetna, MacKenzie did state in its motion to dismiss and uncontroverted affidavit, and showed in its attached supporting evidentiary document, that it did not contract to insure any person, property, or risk located within the state of Florida at the time of contracting. Since ATF failed to overcome or contradict Mac-Kenzie’s prima facie showing of lack of personal jurisdiction, the trial court erred in failing to grant MacKenzie's motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction.

REVERSED and REMANDED for entry of an order granting MacKenzie’s motion to dismiss the amended complaint. Upon remand, in his discretion, the trial judge may reconsider the motion to abate.

BOOTH and BARFIELD, JJ., concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • Hobbs v. DON Mealey Chevrolet, Inc., 642 So. 2d 1149 (Fla. 5th DCA 1994)
    …a. 5th DCA 1992), approved, 620 So. 2d 1004 (Fla. 1993); Jasper v. Zara, 595 So. 2d 1075, 1075-76 (Fla. 2d DCA 1992); Milberg Factors, Inc. v. Greenbaum, 585 So. 2d 1089, 1091-92 (Fla. [*1153] 3d DCA 1991); MacKenzie Insurance Agencies v. ATF Lines, 550 So. 2d 174,. 175-76 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989); Newton v. Bryan, 433 So. 2d 577, 578-79 (Fla. 5th DCA 1983). Specifically, the affidavit established that AFSLIC neither engaged in business, nor maintained an office, in the state of Florida. See § 48.193(1)(a), Fla.St…
  • Sanders v. State, 662 So. 2d 1372 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995)
    …A 1992), relevant to the alleged threats and coercion by the codefendant. “[T]he grounds of the motion were sufficient to warrant an evidentiary hearing at which [Ms. Sanders] could present testimony in support of h[er] contentions.” Smith v. State, 550 So. 2d 174 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989). If the plea was entered as a result of threats and coercion from her codefendant, it was not freely and voluntarily entered. On remand, the circuit court, in its discretion, is free to permit Ms. Sanders to withdraw her plea and…
  • Passy v. Lewis, 553 So. 2d 223 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989)
    …a preponderance of the evidence, that appellants were subject to jurisdiction in this state pursuant to those statutes. See Jones v. Jack Maxton Chevrolet, Inc., 484 So. 2d 43 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986) and MacKenzie Insurance Agencies, Inc. v. ATF Lines, 550 So. 2d 174 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989). Appellees clearly failed to meet their burden in this case. Thus, the trial court erred in denying appellants’ motions. Reversed. SHIVERS, C.J., and WENTWORTH, J., concur.…

Previewing 3 of 4 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw