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Calvo v. Melia6/28/2000
An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Dade County, Amy N. Dean, Judge.
Spanish citizens appeal from a non-final order dismissing, on the basis of forum non conveniens, a personal injury action arising from an accident that occurred in the Dominican Republic. Finding no abuse of discretion, we affirm.
The appellants are citizens and residents of Spain who sued for injuries to their adult daughter who was struck by a boat while on vacation, swimming off the beach in the Dominican Republic. The daughter was treated in the Dominican Republic and at Jackson Memorial Hospital (JMH) in Miami. The resorts between which the daughter was swimming were Dominican corporations; the pilot of the motorboat that struck her was an employee of a Dominican corporation. The accident investigation was conducted by Dominican police, the plaintiffs' Spanish attorney, and various insurance companies in the Dominican Republic. The only connection the plaintiff had with Florida was her transport to JMH two weeks after the accident. After one month at JMH, the plaintiff was transported to Spain for further treatment.
In Miami, the Spanish family retained counsel and filed suit in Miami against Sol Melia S.A. and MIA, the ultimate foreign parents of the Dominican resort owners; five local (Florida) subsidiaries of those owners; and the alleged manufacturer of a float that was being towed by the boat that struck the plaintiff. Of the five subsidiaries, only two are active and have an office in Miami; neither engaged in any act related to this accident. The contacts with Florida and issues of personal service make ties with Florida so tenuous that the trial court expressed serious concerns as to whether jurisdiction lies at all.
After extensive discovery propounded upon them, the Melia defendants moved to dismiss on the basis of forum non conveniens; the court granted that order. After entry of that order, plaintiffs filed a virtually identical complaint in federal court and served it on defendants. The Sol Melia defendants have stipulated to liability if the case is dismissed and refiled in the Dominican Republic or Spain. The federal action is apparently proceeding. The trial court entered a twenty-nine page order containing findings of fact and conclusions of law and ruled that Miami was not the appropriate forum under the criteria of Kinney System, Inc. v. Continental Ins. Co., 674 So. 2d 86 (Fla. 1996). We affirm.
Kinney establishes a four-part forum non conveniens test. The trial court must first determine whether there exists an appropriate alternative forum which possesses jurisdiction over the whole case: here, either Spain or the Dominican Republic. See id. at 90. The trial court determined, and we agree, that either Spain or the Dominican Republic would provide an appropriate alternative forum. The Sol Melia defendants have stipulated to liability if the case is dismissed and refiled in either Spain or the Dominican Republic.
The second Kinney analysis concerns "adequate access to evidence and relevant sites, adequate access to witnesses, adequate enforcement of judgments, and the practicalities and expenses associated with the litigation." Id. at 91. As the trial court found, the witnesses to the accident (approximately 41 are listed) are in the Dominican Republic and speak only Spanish. The accident site is in the Dominican Republic, as is the boat that struck the plaintiff. The plaintiff was treated in the Dominican Republic and the accident was investigated by police and insurance representatives in the Dominican Republic. All of the medical records, except those at JMH, are in Spanish. Defendants Sol Melia have offered to pay the expenses of any witn
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