WEDGE HOTEL MANAGEMENT, (BAHAMAS), LTD., APPELLANT,
v.
VICTOR A. MEIER, ETC., ET AL., APPELLEES
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Wedge Hotel Management appeals the denial of its motion to dismiss based on forum non conveniens in a case arising from a boating accident in the Bahamas. The court affirmed the lower court's denial, holding that Wedge's motion was untimely under Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.061(g), which requires such motions to be filed within 60 days of service of process.
The motion to dismiss for forum non conveniens was untimely and therefore properly denied. A motion to dismiss based on forum non conveniens must be filed within 60 days of service of process, and the filing of a Motion to Quash does not toll this deadline. Defendants should file a motion to dismiss for forum non conveniens contemporaneously with a motion to quash service of process if they wish to preserve both arguments.
[1] A motion to dismiss based on forum non conveniens must be served not later than 60 days after service of process on the moving party.
[2] A motion to quash service of process does not toll the time period for filing a motion to dismiss for forum non conveniens.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“a motion to dismiss based on forum non conveniens shall be served not later than 60 days after service of process on the moving party”
Establishes the controlling rule that forum non conveniens motions must be filed within 60 days of service of process.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceA boating accident in the Bahamas resulted in the plaintiff losing his right arm. The plaintiff filed claims against several defendants, including Wed…
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PER CURIAM.
Wedge Hotel Management (“Wedge”) appeals from an order denying its motion to dismiss based on the doctrine of forum non conveniens. We affirm.
This case arises from a tragic boating accident in the Bahamas in which the plaintiffs right arm was severed. The plaintiff filed claims against several defendants, including Wedge, the appellant herein.1 Service was effected upon Wedge on June 15, 2001. On July 9, 2001, Wedge filed a Motion to Quash. That motion was denied on March 5, 2002. On May 6, 2002, Wedge filed a motion to dismiss for forum non conveniens. Wedge appeals from the denial of that motion. Because the motion to dismiss for forum non conveniens was untimely, we affirm.
Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.061(g) provides that “[a] motion to dismiss based on forum non conveniens shall be served not later than 60 days after service of process on the moving party.” Here, although service was effected upon Wedge on June 15, 2001, Wedge’s motion to dismiss for forum non conveniens was not filed until May 6, 2002, well past the sixty day time limit of 1.061(g). As Wedge’s motion was untimely under the plain language of 1.061(g), we need not address the merits of the arguments raised in the motion.
We are unpersuaded by Wedge’s contention that its July 9, 2002, Motion to Quash tolled the sixty-day forum non conveniens filing period. Tolling the filing period does nothing to promote the interests that the doctrine of forum non conveniens seeks to preserve, which includes avoiding a waste of resources, Kinney System, Inc. v. Continental Ins. Co., 674 So. 2d 86, 94 (Fla.1996), and merely serves to encourage the filing of unnecessarily successive motions. In complying with Rule 1.061, a defendant should file an alternative motion to dismiss for forum non conveniens contemporaneously with the filing of a motion to quash service of process.2
Accordingly, the order denying Wedge’s motion to dismiss for forum non conve-niens is affirmed.
. We refrain from setting out the extensive procedural history of this case, as doing so is unnecessary to reach the issue currently before us.
. Of course, even if not filed simultaneously with a motion to quash, the motion to dismiss for forum non conveniens is still timely so long as it is filed within sixty days of service of process on the moving party.
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FOX v. Union Carbide Corp., 910 So. 2d 422 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005)…to dismiss based on forum non conveniens shall be served not later than 60 days after service of process on the moving party.” Where a motion is untimely under this rule, the motion should be denied. See Wedge Hotel Mgmt., (Bahamas), Ltd. v. Meier, 868 So. 2d 552, 552 (Fla. 3d DCA 2004). Based on the dates of service of the complaint listed in the trial court docket, even if Union Carbide was served on the latest date of December 15, 2003, the forum non conveniens motion filed on May 21, 2004 was untimely b…
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Giovanna Settimi Caraffa v. Carnival Corp., 34 So. 3d 127 (Fla. 3d DCA 2010)…s. For example, we believe it would be contrary to the doctrine to order dismissal where the parties ... have substantially completed discovery or are now ready for a Florida trial. Id. at 93-94. In Wedge Hotel Management (Bahamas), Ltd. v. Meier, 868 So. 2d 552, 553 (Fla. 3d DCA 2004), this Court affirmed the denial of a motion to dismiss for forum non conveniens. We declined to address the merits of the motion because the “motion was untimely under the plain language of rule 1.061(g). Id. at 552. See also…
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Dawson Ins., Inc. v. Quantum Cap. Network, LLC., 923 So. 2d 1194 (Fla. 3d DCA 2006)…[*1195] We find that Dawson’s motion to dismiss for forum non conveniens was untimely served beyond the sixty day period required by the Rule and we affirm on that basis. Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.061(g); see Wedge Hotel Management (Bahamas), Ltd. v. Meier, 868 So. 2d 552 (Fla. 3d DCA 2004). By the plain language of Rule 1.061(g), “a motion to dismiss based on forum non conveniens shall be served no later than 60 days after service of process on the moving party.” [e.s.]. The Rule provides no exception. As in Wedge,…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Kinney Sys., Inc. v. The Cont'l Ins. Co., 674 So. 2d 86 (Fla. 1996)