DAMICET CORPORATION
v.
EMILIO MICHAN SIDAUY
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.
The appellate court affirmed a lower court's denial of Damicet Corporation's motions to dismiss a lawsuit. Damicet argued lack of personal jurisdiction and forum non conveniens, but the court found sufficient contacts with Florida and no abuse of discretion in denying the forum non conveniens motion.
No, the lower court did not err. Damicet's contacts with Florida were sufficient to establish personal jurisdiction, and the court did not abuse its discretion in denying the motion to dismiss on forum non conveniens grounds.
[1] Personal jurisdiction over a foreign corporation is established when the corporation owns real estate and maintains brokerage and banking accounts within the forum state,…
[2] A trial court's ruling on a motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction is reviewed de novo.
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“We review de novo the trial court’s ruling on a motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction.”
Establishes the standard of review for the personal jurisdiction issue.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceDamicet Corporation, a Panamanian company, owned real estate and maintained brokerage and banking accounts in Florida. It was a closely held family en…
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.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Motion To Dismiss For Forum Non Conveniens cases and more on FLexlaw
PER CURIAM.
Damicet Corporation, a Panamanian company (“Damicet”), appeals a non-final order denying its motions to dismiss a lawsuit against it (a) for lack of personal jurisdiction and (b) under the doctrine of forum non conveniens. We affirm both rulings in the order, which were entered following jurisdictional discovery and a two-and-a-half-hour hearing.
Personal Jurisdiction
The parties are on common ground that the de novo standard of review applies to our consideration of this ruling and the record relating to it. “We review de novo the trial court’s ruling on a motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction.” Castillo v. Concepto Uno of Miami, Inc., 193 So. 3d 57, 59 (Fla. 3d DCA 2016) (citing Wendt v. Horowitz, 822 So. 2d 1252, 1256 (Fla. 2002)).
The record discloses that, though a Panamanian corporation, Damicet owned real estate and maintained its brokerage and banking accounts in Aventura and Miami. As the company was a closely held family entity for accumulating assets in Florida and transacting business here, Damicet’s presence and activities satisfied the twin prongs required to support personal jurisdiction. See Venetian Salami Co. v. Parthenais, 554 So. 2d 499, 502 (Fla. 1989) (stating that long-arm jurisdiction is appropriate if (1) “the complaint alleges sufficient jurisdictional facts to bring the action within the ambit of the [long-arm] statute” and (2) due process is satisfied with sufficient “minimum contacts”).
Forum Non Conveniens
The trial court heard argument, considered affidavits and proffers by the parties, and ruled upon each of the four factors applicable to the evaluation of a motion to dismiss for forum non conveniens. See Kinney Sys., Inc. v. Continental Ins. Co., 674 So. 2d 86, 90 (Fla. 1996) (determining forum non conveniens by analyzing (1) whether an adequate alternative forum exists, (2) private interests, (3) public interests, and (4) whether a remedy is potentially available in the alternative forum). That being so, our standard of review is for an abuse of discretion. See GLF Constr. Corp. v. Credinform Int’l, S.A., 225 So. 3d 377, 380 (Fla. 3d DCA 2017) (reviewing the trial court’s denial of the motion to dismiss for forum non conveniens for an abuse of discretion). “An abuse of discretion occurs ‘when the judicial action is arbitrary, fanciful, or unreasonable or where no reasonable man would take the view the trial court adopted.’” Abeid-Saba v. Carnival Corp., 184 So. 3d 593, 603 (Fla. 3d DCA 2016) (quoting Johnson v. State, 47 So. 3d 941, 943 (Fla. 3d DCA 2010)). On the record before us, we find no abuse of discretion and affirm on this ruling as well. Affirmed.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
MSP Recovery Claims v. Coloplast Corp. (Fla. 3d DCA 2023)
Authorities Cited
- Venetian Salami Co. v. J.S. Parthenais, 554 So. 2d 499 (Fla. 1989)
- Kinney Sys., Inc. v. The Cont'l Ins. Co., 674 So. 2d 86 (Fla. 1996)
- Wendt v. Horowitz, 822 So. 2d 1252 (Fla. 2002)
- Abeid-Saba v. Carnival Corp., 184 So. 3d 593 (Fla. 3d DCA 2016)
- Leopoldo Castillo v. Concepto UNO OF Miami, Inc., 193 So. 3d 57 (Fla. 3d DCA 2016)
- Johnson v. State, 47 So. 3d 941 (Fla. 3d DCA 2010)
- GLF Constr. Corp. v. Credinform Int'l, S.A., 225 So. 3d 377 (Fla. 3d DCA 2017)