SEABOARD COAST LINE RAILROAD COMPANY, A CORPORATION, PETITIONER,
v.
MYRTICE MAE SWAIN, AS PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ESTATE OF GERNEY LEE SWAIN, DECEASED, AND MYRTICE MAE SWAIN, A WIDOW, RESPONDENT
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A Florida court may dismiss a case on forum non conveniens grounds only if none of the parties are residents of Florida.
Respondent filed a wrongful death action in Florida against petitioner for an accident in Georgia. Petitioner's principal place of business is Florida…
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HATCHETT, Justice.
By Petition for Writ of Certiorari, Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Company requests this court to review a decision of the First District Court of Appeal, reported at 347 So. 2d 138 (Fla. 1st DCA 1977), on the basis of a conflict with the decision in Houston v. Caldwell, 347 So. 2d 1041 (Fla. 4th DCA 1977). We have jurisdiction pursuant to Article V, Section 3(b)(3). We affirm.
Respondent brought a wrongful death action against petitioner in Duval County Cir cuit Court for the wrongful death of her husband resulting from injuries he sustained in a railroad crossing accident in Ware County, Georgia. Respondent is a resident of Ware County, Georgia. The trial court denied petitioner’s motion to dismiss, which urged the application of forum non conveniens, under authority in Adams v. Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Co., 224 So. 2d 797 (Fla. 1st DCA 1969). The court in Adams and in the present case recognized that petitioner’s principal place of business is Jacksonville, Duval County, Florida. Under Adams and other similar Florida decisions, a case may be dismissed from the Florida courts in favor of a more convenient forum in another state only where none of the parties involved in the suit are residents of this state. If a suit is filed in Florida between non-resident parties seeking to litigate a cause of action accruing in a foreign jurisdiction, a trial court is accorded a sound discretion in determining whether it should retain jurisdiction of the action, or dismiss it without prejudice to the plaintiff’s right to reinstitute the action in a more appropriate and convenient forum.
Our recent opinion in Houston v. Caldwell, 359 So. 2d 858 (Fla.1978), approved the applicable rule of law as set forth in Adams. Therefore, we affirm the decision of the First District Court.
It is so ordered.
ENGLAND, C. J., and ADKINS, BOYD and OVERTON, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By (13 total)
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Ranger Nationwide, Inc. v. Cook, 519 So. 2d 1087 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988)…defendants to Florida jurisdiction. It would be pertinent only in considering a motion to dismiss or transfer for forum non conveniens by a defendant — such as Ranger Nationwide — which is properly served here. See Seaboard Coast Line R.R. v. Swain, 362 So. 2d 17 (Fla.1978); see also Hu v. Crockett, 426 So. 2d 1275 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983). . This ruling of course concerns the jurisdictional question alone. It is not meant to suggest that the owner or lessee of a trailer may be substantively, vicariously liable…
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Envases Venezolanos, S.A. v. Collazo, 559 So. 2d 651 (Fla. 3d DCA 1990)…nly when all of the parties are citizens of, and the cause of action accrued in another jurisdiction. See Mitsubishi Elec. Sales Am., Inc. v. Refriaire Int’l Corp., N.V., 538 So. 2d 982 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989); see also Seaboard Coast Line R.R. v. Swain, 362 So. 2d 17 (Fla.1978); Armadora Naval Dominicana, S.A. v. Garcia, 478 So. 2d 873 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985). In this case, it is undisputed that the plaintiffs-appellants and the party-defendants, including both Collazo and Castillo, are citizens of Venezuela. The app…
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Pearl Cruises v. Belle Bestor, 678 So. 2d 372 (Fla. 3d DCA 1996)…n to dismiss for forum non conveniens. Reversed. LEVY, J., concurs. . Kinney was decided after the rulings below. .The importance of this factor is demonstrated by the holdings under pre-Kinney Florida law, see Seaboard Coast Line R.R. v. Swain, 362 So. 2d 17 (Fla.1978); Houston v. Caldwell, 359 So. 2d 858 (Fla.l978)(citing Adams v. Seaboard Coast Line R.R., 224 So. 2d 797 (Fla. 1st DCA 1969)), that the mere fact that Florida was the corporate defendant’s state of incorporation or principal place of busi…
Previewing 3 of 13 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Houston v. Caldwell, 359 So. 2d 858 (Fla. 1978)
- Yewell Adams v. Seaboard Coast Line R.R. Co., 224 So. 2d 797 (Fla. 1st DCA 1969)
- Houston v. Caldwell, 347 So. 2d 1041 (Fla. 4th DCA 1977)
- Seaboard Coast Line R.R. Co. v. Myrtice Mae Swain, 347 So. 2d 138 (Fla. 1st DCA 1977)
- Robert Mick, D.D.S. v. Fla. State Bd. OF Dentistry, 347 So. 2d 138 (Fla. 1st DCA 1977)