MARIBETH RALPH, WILLIAM J. RALPH AND CONCORDE PLACE OF CRETE, INC., APPELLANTS,
v.
ROSE MCLAUGHLIN, INDIVIDUALLY, ROSE MCLAUGHLIN, AS CO-TRUSTEE OF THE CLYDE M. MCLAUGHLIN TRUST, AND NATIONSBANK, N.A., AS CO-TRUSTEE OF THE CLYDE M. MCLAUGHLIN TRUST, APPELLEES
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.
Appellants' motions to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction were partially reversed because the trial court failed to hold an evidentiary hearing on conflicting affidavits regarding minimum contacts, but one appellant waived her jurisdictional objection by filing an answer and counterclaim seeking affirmative relief.
A defendant waives a challenge to personal jurisdiction by filing an answer and seeking affirmative relief, but a trial court must conduct an evidentiary hearing to resolve conflicting affidavits on the issue of minimum contacts when the defendant has not waived the objection.
[1] A trial court must conduct a limited evidentiary hearing to resolve conflicting affidavits submitted on the issue of minimum contacts necessary for personal jurisdiction.
[2] A defendant waives a challenge to personal jurisdiction by filing an answer and seeking affirmative relief in the form of a counterclaim.
Previewing 2 of 2 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAppellants, nonresident defendants in a civil action, moved to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction based on insufficient minimum contacts with F…
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 Conflicting Affidavits cases and more on FLexlaw
FULMER, Judge.
In this interlocutory appeal, the Appellants, Maribeth Ralph, William J. Ralph and Concorde Place of Crete, Inc., are nonresident defendants in an underlying civil action. They challenge an order denying their motions to dismiss in which they asserted a lack of minimum contacts with Florida necessary for the court’s exercise of personal jurisdiction. The parties submitted affidavits that conflict as to the extent of the Appellants’ purposeful business activities in Florida and the minimum contacts required for the court’s exercise of personal jurisdiction. The trial court heard only argument of counsel before ruling on the motions. As to William Ralph and Concord Place of Crete, Inc., we reverse for the trial court to hold an evidentiary hearing on the issue of minimum contacts to resolve the conflicting affidavits. See Venetian Salami Co. v. Parthenais, 554 So. 2d 499, 503 (Fla.1989) (holding that trial court is required to conduct a limited evidentiary hearing to resolve conflicting affidavits submitted on the issue of minimum contacts).
As to Maribeth Ralph, we conclude that she waived her objection to personal jurisdiction by filing an answer to count one of the complaint and a counterclaim in which she sought affirmative relief. See Babcock v. Whatmore, 707 So. 2d 702, 704 (Fla.1998) (holding that “a defendant waives a challenge to personal jurisdiction by seeking affirmative relief’). Therefore, the trial court’s denial of Maribeth Ralph’s motion to dismiss is affirmed.
Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded for further proceedings.
CAMPBELL, A.C.J., and ALTENBERND, J., Concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Covenant Tr. Co. v. The Guardianship OF Lillian Ihrman, 45 So. 3d 499 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010)…d Covenant’s affidavits cannot be reconciled, as Guardian attested Covenant conducted business in Florida, and Covenant denied this. The trial court only held hearings and decided the issue based on the attorneys’ arguments. See Ralph v. McLaughlin, 756 So. 2d 240, 241 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000) (where trial court only heard the arguments of counsel before deciding the motions to dismiss based on lack of personal jurisdiction, the Second District, pursuant to Venetian Salami, reversed and remanded the case so the tri…
-
Schrimsher Land Fund V, Ltd. v. Dep't OF Transp., 785 So. 2d 750 (Fla. 5th DCA 2001)…risdiction is waived); Bailey, Hunt, Jones & Busto v. Scutieri, 759 So. 2d 706 (Fla. 3d DCA 2000)(holding that defendant who files any pleading as to merits in a case waives all challenges to service of process or jurisdiction); Ralph v. McLaughlin, 756 So. 2d 240 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000)(holding same); Starks v. Howard, 611 So. 2d 52 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992)(holding that party submits to court’s jurisdiction and waives any jurisdictional defects by taking step in proceeding amounting to an appearance); Martin v. Ullman,…
Authorities Cited
- Venetian Salami Co. v. J.S. Parthenais, 554 So. 2d 499 (Fla. 1989)
- Babcock v. Whatmore, 707 So. 2d 702 (Fla. 1998)