THE GOODYEAR TIRE AND RUBBER COMPANY, A CORPORATION, AND TRAVELERS INSURANCE COMPANY, A CORPORATION, APPELLANTS,
v.
ROBERT T. MANN AND ELIZABETH B. MANN, APPELLEES

Fla. 3d DCA | 1973-10-24
No. 73-809
Before BARKDULL, C. J., and CHARLES CARROLL and HENDRY, JJ.
285 So. 2d 681 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (1973) Positive Treatment
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

In this interlocutory appeal, the Florida Third District Court of Appeal reversed an order denying defendants' motion for change of venue and transfer of a personal injury lawsuit. Although the plaintiff, a Second District appellate judge, sought to avoid trying the case in his home district to prevent appearance of impropriety, the court held that the forum non conveniens statute required transfer to Hillsborough County where the accident occurred and all witnesses and evidence were located.


Holding

The court reversed and remanded with directions to transfer the cause to Hillsborough County Circuit Court. The court held that the forum non conveniens statute (F.S. 47.122) required transfer where no witnesses resided in the transferor forum but did reside in the transferee forum and the cause of action arose in Florida as a transitory action. The court noted that if necessary, the Chief Justice could assign a judge from another district or a retired judge to handle the case.


Headnotes

[1] A later-enacted statute controls over an earlier statute when there is a conflict in legislative will.

[2] When no witnesses reside in the transferor forum but do reside in the transferee forum, and the cause of action arising in Florida is transitory, the suit should be trans…

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

Key Quotes

“The forum non conveniens statute, F.S. 47.122, F.S.A., was enacted subsequent to F.S. 47.163, F.S.A., and as a later expression of the legislative will is controlling.”

Establishes the statutory basis for requiring transfer to the proper venue county regardless of plaintiff's concerns about impropriety.

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

Judge Robert T. Mann, an appellate judge in the Second District Court of Appeal, was seriously injured in an automobile accident in Tampa, Hillsboroug…

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
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

This is an interlocutory appeal from an order denying defendants’ motions for a change of venue and for transfer of cause and an alternative motion to dismiss. We reverse.

Plaintiff, a judge in the Second District Court of Appeal, was seriously injured in an automobile accident in Tampa. His complaint alleges that an employee of defendant-Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company caused the accident, and Travelers was Goodyear’s insurer. The suit was filed in Circuit Court for Dade County.

Defendants, in the motion for change of venue, recited that the accident occurred in Hillsborough County, that all the witnesses, the records, the vehicles involved, and the investigating officers were located in the Tampa area. Defendants maintained that a trial outside of Hillsborough County would cause undue hardship and would be time-consuming and expensive.

Admittedly, the circumstances of this cause are unusual. Plaintiff points out that as an appellate judge in the Second District he wishes to avoid all thoughts of indelicacy or appearance of impropriety. Since Judge Mann hears appeals from trial judges, he contends that a trial before one of these judges as well as local jurors would present an embarrassing situation.

Plaintiff further argues that the trial court’s order was correct because of the provision of F.S. 47.163 1 F.S.A., or, alternatively, because the “interest of justice” provision of our forum non conveniens statute still requires this case to be tried outside of the Second District. We do not agree.

The forum non conveniens statute, F.S. 47.122,

F.S.A., was enacted subsequent to F.S. 47.163, F.S.A., and as a later expression of the legislative will is controlling. State v. City of Boca Raton, Fla. 1965, 172 So. 2d 230.

This court has previously construed F.S. 47.122, F.S.A., in England v. Cook, Fla.App.1972, 256 So. 2d 403, wherein we indicated that when no witnesses reside in the transferor forum but do reside in the transferee forum, and the cause of action arising in Florida is transitory, then the suit should be transferred.

We think this case should be properly instituted in the Circuit Court in Hillsborough County. -It may be that in the interest of justice the court in the exercise of discretion will order a change of venue to another district which is nearer to Tampa than Dade County. Or the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court may assign a circuit judge from another district or a retired judge to sit on this case. See Fla. Const. Art. V, § 2(b), F.S.A. Therefore, for the reasons stated the order appealed is reversed and remanded to the circuit court with directions to transfer the cause to the Circuit Court of Hillsbor-ough County.

Reversed and remanded with directions.

CARROLL, J., concurs in the judgment.

. F.S. 47.163, F.S.A., provides: “No change of venue shall be made to any county or district where either of the parties reside, except by their consent.”

. F.S. 47.122, F.S.A., provides: “For 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.”


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • Gaboury v. Flagler Hosp., Inc., 316 So. 2d 642 (Fla. 4th DCA 1975)
    …e action. Polar Ice Cream and Creamery Company v. Andrews, 146 So. 2d 609 (1st DCA Fla.1962). See also, Allen v. Summers, 273 So. 2d 13 (3rd DCA Fla.1973); England v. Cook, 256 So. 2d 403 (3rd DCA Fla.1972); Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company v. Mann, 285 So. 2d 681 (3rd DCA Fla.1973), rev’d. 300 So. 2d 666 (Fla.1974). The granting or refusal of the application for change of venue is within the sound discretion of the trial court and will not be disturbed upon review absent a demonstration of a palpable abuse…
  • …BOYD, Justice. This cause is before us on petition for writ of certiorari to review the decision of this District Court of Appeal, Third District, reported at 285 So. 2d 681. Our jurisdiction is based on conflict1 between the decision sought to be reviewed and State v. Putnam County Development Authority,2 State v. Collier County,3 Farish v. Lums, Inc.,4 inter alia. The facts of the case are as follows : ■ On Novem…

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw