09-0243, 09-0246 & 09-0247 ED LABRY, BILL BENTON & KEVIN ADAMS, v. WHITNEY NATIONAL BANK, AB9G, LLC, STEVEN R. BRADLEY, JOHN D. LAPLANTE, & BRAD ZEITLIN

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Laws-info.com » Cases » Florida » Florida First District Court » 2009 » 09-0243, 09-0246 & 09-0247 ED LABRY, BILL BENTON & KEVIN ADAMS, v. WHITNEY NATIONAL BANK, AB9G, LLC, STEVEN R. BRADLEY, JOHN D. LAPLANTE, & BRAD ZEITLIN

State: Florida

Court: Florida First District Court

Docket No: 09-0243,

Case Date: 05/04/2009

Preview:IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL FIRST DISTRICT, STATE OF FLORIDA NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE MOTION FOR REHEARING AND DISPOSITION THEREOF IF FILED

ED LABRY, BILL BENTON & KEVIN ADAMS, Appellants, v. WHITNEY NATIONAL BANK, AB9G, LLC, STEVEN R. BRADLEY, JON D. LAPLANTE, & BRAD ZEITLIN, Appellees. _____________________________/ Opinion filed May 4, 2009.

CASE NOS. 1D09-0243, 1D09-0246, & 1D09-0247

An appeal from the Circuit Court for Walton County. Howard LaPorte, Judge. Patrick K. McCarthy and Brooke E. Eisenhut of Matthews & Hawkins, P.A., Destin, for Appellants. Linda A. Hoffman and Robert S. Rushing of Carver, Darden, Koretzky, Tessier, Finn, Blossman & Areaux, LLC, Pensacola, for Appellees.

BENTON, J.

Ed Labry, Bill Benton, and Kevin Adams appeal the denial of their motion to dismiss, on grounds of lack of personal jurisdiction, the complaint filed by Whitney National Bank (Whitney) against them (and others) seeking to collect on a loan Whitney made to AB9G, LLC, a Florida corporation. Whitney alleged that appellants (and others) guaranteed the loan and that AB9G's default triggered payment obligations under the guaranties. In their motion, appellants, defendants below, asserted that they reside in Tennessee, executed the guaranties there, and lack any other connection to Florida in their personal capacities; and that Whitney failed to allege or prove facts that show that Florida courts have personal jurisdiction over them. We have jurisdiction of the appeal. See Fla. R. App. P. 9.030(b)(1)(B) (2009), 9.130(a)(3)(C)(i) (2009). Insofar as it presents a question of law, we review de novo an order denying a motion to dismiss on grounds of lack of personal jurisdiction. See Execu-Tech Bus. Sys., Inc. v. New Oji Paper Co., 752 So. 2d 582, 584 (Fla. 2000); Ganiko v. Ganiko, 826 So. 2d 391, 393 (Fla. 1st DCA 2002). A plaintiff seeking to establish in personam jurisdiction over a nonresident defendant has the burden of alleging sufficient facts (1) to bring the action within Florida's long arm statute and (2) to show that exercising personal jurisdiction over the defendant comports with due process. See Venetian Salami Co. v. Parthenais, 554 So. 2d 499, 502 (Fla. 1989) 2

("In determining whether long-arm jurisdiction is appropriate in a given case, two inquiries must be made. First, it must be determined that the complaint alleges sufficient jurisdictional facts to bring the action within the ambit of the statute; and if it does, the next inquiry is whether sufficient `minimum contacts' are demonstrated to satisfy due process requirements." (quoting Unger v. Publisher Entry Serv., Inc., 513 So. 2d 674, 675 (Fla. 5th DCA 1987))). Whitney's complaint alleged as a basis for jurisdiction over appellants only that they were out-of-state residents who "ha[ve] engaged in business in Walton County, Florida, including without limitation, the transaction relating to the note and guaranty that is the subject of this litigation." Florida's provides, in relevant part: (1) Any person, whether or not a citizen or resident of this state, who personally or through an agent does any of the acts enumerated in this subsection thereby submits himself or herself and, if he or she is a natural person, his or her personal representative to the jurisdiction of the courts of this state for any cause of action arising from the doing of any of the following acts: (a) Operating, conducting, engaging in, or carrying on a business or business venture in this state or having an office or agency in this state. .... (g) Breaching a contract in this state by failing to perform acts required by the contract to be performed in this state. long arm statute

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