Marina Dodge, Inc. v. Quinn

• Decision Date: 05 February 2014
• Docket Number: No. 4D13–10.,4D13–10.
• Parties: MARINA DODGE, INC., and Webster Auto Brokers, Inc., Appellants, v. Kristina QUINN and Charles Joseph Barbera, Appellees.
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

134 So.3d 1103

MARINA DODGE, INC., and Webster Auto Brokers, Inc., Appellants,

v.Kristina QUINN and Charles Joseph Barbera, Appellees.

No. 4D13–10.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District.

Feb. 5, 2014.

Peter A. Miller & Associates, P.A., Coral Gables; Robert S. Glazier of Law Office of Robert S. Glazier, Miami; James W. Sherman and Richard H. Sherman, Sr. of Law Offices of Richard A. Sherman, P.A., Fort Lauderdale; for appellants.

Robert M. Roselli of Roselli & Associates, P.A., Fort Lauderdale; Todd Tracy of The Tracy Firm, Dallas, Texas; and Erin E. Pogue of Wasson & Associates, Chartered, Miami; for appellee Kristina Quinn.

FORST, J.

New York auto dealers Marina Dodge, Inc. and Webster Auto Brokers, Inc. (“the Auto Dealers”) appeal the denial of their respective motions to dismiss the personal injury suit filed against them in Broward County. The Auto Dealers maintain that the trial court erred in rejecting their argument that personal jurisdiction could not be exercised against them in Florida. We agree and therefore reverse the trial court's order.

The Complaint

In 2003, Plaintiff–Appellee Kristina Quinn (Appellee) purchased a vehicle from the Auto Dealers, both New York corporations. The transaction took place in New York. At the time of the purchase, Appellee was a resident of New York and, in fact, subsequently was employed by one of the auto dealers in New York. She later moved to Florida and, in 2007, was involved in an automobile accident with another Florida resident, Defendant Charles Barbera, while driving that vehicle in Broward County. Appellee sustained serious injuries as a result of the collision.

Appellee filed the operative complaint in Broward County, Florida, with claims against the Auto Dealers, alleging that they sold her a defective vehicle and it was a cause of the accident. The Auto Dealers moved to dismiss the complaint for lack of personal jurisdiction, attaching an affidavit by the Auto Dealers' president denying any contacts with Florida. The parties then engaged in lengthy and prolonged discovery surrounding the issue of whether the Auto Dealers had sufficient contacts with Florida.

The Auto Dealers' Activities in, and Contacts with, Florida

In support of her opposition to the Auto Dealers' motions to dismiss, Appellee submitted four affidavits regarding contacts Marina Dodge had with Florida. None of these affidavits addressed contacts between Webster Auto Brokers and Florida. In response, the Auto Dealers filed a new affidavit from their president, admitting to several “contacts” with Florida on the part of Marina Dodge.¹ The following contacts/activities were identified:

• Marina Dodge was registered with ADESA Sarasota, a Florida corporation which auctions automobiles; however, the Auto Dealers' owner stated that Marina Dodge did not purchase vehicles from, nor sell vehicles to, ADESA.

• Marina Dodge purchased nine vehicles over the internet from Manheim Orlando, a Florida corporation, between 2006 and 2009; the vehicles were transported from Florida to New York by a North Carolina auto transport company.

• Appellee contends that an additional ten vehicles were purchased by Marina Dodge from Manheim Central Florida between 2006 and 2010; the Auto Dealers' president responded that these vehicles were not purchased by Marina Dodge, but by a separate entity.

• Marina Dodge had five transactions between 2004 and 2011 with customers that owned extended service warranties purchased from either Fidelity Warranty Services or Century Warranty Services, both Florida companies; the service on the automobiles was performed in New York.

• Marina Dodge entered into an agreement with Auction Direct, a Delaware corporation, to assist Auction Direct in obtaining financing for Auction Direct vehicle purchasers, and some of the financing involved vehicles sold by Auction Direct in Florida; Marina Dodge received three checks, totaling $7,500, from Auction Direct's subsidiary in Jacksonville, Florida, for Marina Dodge's efforts with sales in Florida.

After a hearing on the Auto Dealers' motions to dismiss, the trial court concluded, “I do believe based on the affidavits that were presented to me, it showed that there was indeed continuous contact that took place over years with various entities sufficient to permit jurisdiction to lie in the State of Florida ... as to both [the Auto Dealers].” In responding to an inquiry as to whether this denial would apply to both of the defendants' motions, the trial court responded, “Yes, as to both because of the representations—Webster is using the same dealer number.” The trial court then entered an order denying both motions to dismiss.

We review a trial court's ruling on a motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction de novo. Russo v. Fink, 87 So.3d 815, 817 (Fla. 4th DCA 2012).

Analytical Process for Determining Personal Jurisdiction

In Venetian Salami Co. v. Parthenais, 554 So.2d 499, 501–02 (Fla.1989), the Florida Supreme Court approved of a two-step analytical process for determining personal jurisdiction. The first step requires the trial court to determine whether sufficient facts have been alleged to bring the action within the ambit of Florida's long-arm statute. ²Id. at 502 (quoting Unger v. Publisher Entry Serv., Inc., 513 So.2d 674, 675 (Fla. 5th DCA 1987), review denied,520 So.2d 586 (Fla.1988)); Caiazzo v. Am. Royal Arts Corp., 73 So.3d 245, 249–50 (Fla. 4th DCA 2011). If the long-arm statute applies, the second step requires the trial court to decide whether “minimum contacts” exist between the defendant and the forum state to satisfy due process. Venetian Salami Co., 554 So.2d at 502;Caiazzo, 73 So.3d at 250. The due process analysis is “a more restrictive requirement” than the “broad grant of jurisdiction” under the long-arm statute and is governed by precedent from the Supreme Court of the United States interpreting the Due Process Clause of the United States Constitution. Caiazzo, 73 So.3d at 250–51 (citations omitted).

Personal jurisdiction can exist in two forms: “specific,” in which the alleged activities or actions of the defendant are directly connected to the forum state, and “general,” in which the defendant's connection with the forum state is so substantial that no specific or enumerated relationship between the alleged wrongful actions and the state is necessary.

Id. at 250.

A. Specific Jurisdiction

In analyzing the issue of “specific” jurisdiction, a court must first determine whether one of the acts set out in section 48.193(1) of the Florida long-arm statute is applicable to the case at hand. In the instant case, Appellee has identified two such acts: “[c]omitting a tortious act within this state,” and “[c]ausing injury to persons or property within this state arising out of an act or omission by the defendant outside this state ....” § 48.193(1)(a) 2., 6., Fla. Stat. (2012).

In the event that this first prong of examining specific jurisdiction is met, a court must then address the due process prong. This court has comprehensively discussed this standard:

The United States Supreme Court, in a handful of leading cases, laid out the proper due process standard for cases involving specific jurisdiction. First, in the interest of preserving “traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice” a state may exercise specific jurisdiction only over a defendant who has certain “minimum contacts” with the state. Int'l Shoe Co. v. Washington, 326 U.S. 310, 316, 66 S.Ct. 154, 90 L.Ed. 95 (1945). This so-called “minimum contacts” rule is the “constitutional touchstone” for such jurisdiction. Burger King Corp. v. Rudzewicz, 471 U.S. 462, 474, 105 S.Ct. 2174, 85 L.Ed.2d 528 (1985). The Court later clarified that the notion of minimum contacts encompasses only situations in which the defendant has “purposefully avail[ed] [himself or herself] of the privilege of conducting activities within the forum State, thus invoking the benefits and protections of its laws.” Hanson v. Denckla, 357 U.S. 235, 253, 78 S.Ct. 1228, 2 L.Ed.2d 1283 (1958); see also Burger King, 471 U.S. at 474–75, 105 S.Ct. 2174;World–Wide Volkswagen Corp. v. Woodson, 444 U.S. 286, 297, 100 S.Ct. 559, 62 L.Ed.2d 490 (1980). Finally, the Court has stated that simply being able to foresee a product's arrival in the forum state will never by itself establish minimum contacts over the seller of that product. World–Wide Volkswagen [ v. Woodson ], 444 U.S. [286] at 297, 100 S.Ct. 580[, 62 L.Ed.2d 490 (1980) ]. Instead, foreseeability is relevant only when “the defendant's conduct and connection with the forum State are such that he should reasonably anticipate being haled into court there.” Id. This is because an entity that purposefully avails itself of the privilege of conducting activities within the forum state “has clear notice that it is subject to suit there, and can act to alleviate the risk of burdensome litigation by procuring insurance, passing the expected costs on to customers, or, if the risks are too great, severing its connection with the State.” Id.

Caiazzo, 73 So.3d at 251;see also Metnick & Levy, P.A. v. Seuling, 123 So.3d 639, 644 (Fla. 4th DCA 2013); Corporacion Aero Angeles, S.A. v. Fernandez, 69 So.3d 295, 299 (Fla. 4th DCA 2011).

B. General Jurisdiction

General jurisdiction under the Florida long-arm statute applies to “[a] defendant who is engaged in substantial and not isolated activity within this state, whether such activity is wholly interstate, intrastate, or otherwise, is subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of this state, whether or not the claim arises from that activity.” § 48.193(2), Fla. Stat. (2012). As noted in Caiazzo, the term “substantial and not isolated” has been construed by Florida courts as meaning “continuous and systematic general business contact” with Florida. Caiazzo, 73 So.3d at 250. A similar standard applies in determining whether the due process requirement for finding general...