JUANA CARDELLES, AS PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ESTATE OF MATEO CARDELLES, DECEASED, APPELLANT,
v.
CATHOLIC HEALTH SERVICES, INC. A/K/A ARCHDIOCESE OF MIAMI, INC. A/K/A ST. ANNE'S RESIDENCE, INC. D/B/A ST. ANNE'S NURSING CENTER, ANTHONY FARINELLA AND FRANCISCO CRUZ, M.D., APPELLEES

Fla. 4th DCA | 2009-05-20
No. 4D08-4165
POLEN and DAMOORGIAN, JJ„ concur.
14 So. 3d 1025 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (2009) Positive Treatment
Cited by 6 cases

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Synopsis

Juana Cardelles, representative of a deceased patient's estate, appealed a trial court's order transferring venue from Broward County to Dade County based on forum non conveniens. The Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed, holding that the defendants failed to provide the required affidavits or evidence of substantial inconvenience necessary to overcome the plaintiff's presumptively correct forum selection.


Holding

The court reversed the venue transfer because the defendants failed to establish through affidavit or other evidence the substantial inconvenience or undue expense required to overcome the plaintiff's presumptively correct forum selection. The complaint did not warrant a forum non conveniens transfer on its face, requiring the defendants to submit supporting evidence.


Headnotes

[1] A defendant seeking a forum non conveniens transfer bears the burden of establishing substantial inconvenience or undue expense for the convenience of the parties or witn…

[2] A plaintiff's choice of forum is presumptively correct in a forum non conveniens analysis.

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Key Quotes

“Under the forum non conveniens statute, a plaintiffs forum selection is presumptively correct and the burden is on the defendant to show either substantial inconvenience or that undue expense requires change for the convenience of the parties or witnesses.”

Establishes the legal standard that defendants must overcome a presumption favoring the plaintiff's choice of forum.

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Facts & Procedural History

Mateo Cardelles died at St. Anne's Nursing Center in Dade County, operated by Catholic Health Services. Juana Cardelles filed a wrongful death and med…

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Opinion of the Court
STEVENSON, J.

STEVENSON, J.

The plaintiff below, Juana Cardelles, the personal representative of decedent Mateo Cardelles, appeals the trial court’s non-final order transferring venue from Bro-ward County to Dade County on the basis of forum non conveniens. We reverse and remand because the defendant below, Catholic Health Services, failed to establish through an affidavit or other evidence substantial inconvenience or undue expense requiring a change for the convenience of the parties or witnesses.

Catholic Health Services owned and operated properties in Broward, Dade and Monroe Counties, including St. Anne’s Nursing Center in Dade County where Mateo passed away. Juana filed a wrongful death and medical negligence complaint in Broward County against Catholic Health Services, St. Anne’s, its administrator Anthony Farinella, who was a Broward County resident, and Mateo’s physician at St. Anne’s, Francisco Cruz, M.D., who was a Dade County resident. Cruz filed a motion, joined by the other defendants, seeking to transfer venue from Broward County to Dade County based on forum non conveniens. The motion argued that the actions which are the subjects of the litigation occurred in Dade County, discovery will occur in Dade County, the witnesses are located in Dade County, and Farinella, the Broward County resident, was sued in his capacity as the administrator of St. Anne’s in Dade County. The trial court granted the motion.

The parties agree that Broward County is a proper venue because Farinella resides there. See § 47.011, Fla. Stat. (2008). The parties also agree that Juana could have filed her complaint in Dade County where Cruz is a resident, see section 47.021, Florida Statutes (2008), and where the causes of action accrued as St. Anne’s is located there, see section 47.051, *1027Florida Statutes (2008). The forum non conveniens statute, section 47.122, Florida Statutes (2008), provides that “[flor the convenience of the parties or witnesses or in the interest of justice, any court of record may transfer any civil action to any other court of record in which it might have been brought.”

“Under the forum non conve-niens statute, a plaintiffs forum selection is presumptively correct and the burden is on the defendant to show either substantial inconvenience or that undue expense requires change for the convenience of the parties or witnesses.” Eggers v. Eggers, 776 So.2d 1096, 1098 (Fla. 5th DCA 2001). Generally, “ ‘when & forum non conveniens challenge is raised, it is incumbent upon the parties to submit affidavits or other evidence that will shed necessary light on the issue of the convenience of the parties and witnesses and the interest of justice.’ ” Wynn Drywall, Inc. v. Aequicap Program Adm’rs, Inc., 953 So.2d 28, 30 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007) (quoting Eggers, 776 So.2d at 1098). “The only exception would be where the complaint itself shows on its face that a forum non conveniens transfer is warranted.” Ground Improvement Techniques, Inc. v. Merchs. Bonding Co., 707 So.2d 1138, 1139 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998).

We find that Juana’s complaint does not warrant, on its face, a forum non conve-niens transfer. Thus, the trial court erred in failing to request an affidavit from the defendants, and we reverse and remand without prejudice for the defendants to file an affidavit in accordance with this opinion.

Reversed and remanded.

POLEN and DAMOORGIAN, JJ„ concur.


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Cited By

  • Hall v. Animals.com, L.L.C., 171 So. 3d 216 (Fla. 5th DCA 2015)
  • Romilio F. Marques, M.D. v. Garcia, 245 So. 3d 900 (Fla. 3d DCA 2018)
    …ent on the party seeking [*905] transfer " 'to submit affidavits or other evidence that will shed necessary light on the issue of the convenience of the parties and witnesses and the interest of justice.' " Cardelles v. Catholic Health Servs., Inc., 14 So. 3d 1025, 1027 (Fla. 4th DCA 2009) (quoting Wynn Drywall, Inc. v. Aequicap Program Adm'rs, Inc., 953 So. 2d 28, 30 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007) ). We find that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in concluding that the Appellants failed to meet their burden.…
  • Cohen v. Scarnato, 270 So. 3d 410 (Fla. 4th DCA 2019)
    …seeking a transfer under this section must submit affidavits or other evidence to show that a change of venue is necessary for the convenience of the parties or witnesses or in the interest of justice. See Cardelles v. Catholic Health Servs., Inc., 14 So. 3d 1025, 1027 (Fla. 4th DCA 2009). Even after this showing is made, a court may transfer venue only to a court where the action could have been filed initially. See McGee v. McGee, 145 So. 3d 955, 958 (Fla. 1st DCA 2014); Vitale v. Vitale, 994 So. 2d 1242…

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