Donna Brown, a Florida resident, sued Martine Gibbons in Florida for negligence arising from a 1994 automobile accident near Montreal, Quebec, in which both women were passengers and Brown's husband was driving. Brown alleged that Gibbons negligently directed the driver onto a one-way road in the wrong direction, causing a head-on collision. To establish personal jurisdiction, Brown alleged that Gibbons had previously filed a 1995 Florida lawsuit against Brown's husband involving the same accident. Gibbons, a Texas resident, moved to quash service and dismiss, arguing that the prior suit did not supply a basis for Florida jurisdiction in this separate 1997 action.
Issue
Does a nonresident defendant subject herself to personal jurisdiction in Florida in a later, separate negligence suit arising from the same accident merely because she had previously filed a now-concluded Florida action against a different person concerning that accident? If not, do the complaint's allegations satisfy either section 48.193(2) or constitutional due process?
Rule
To obtain in personam jurisdiction over a nonresident defendant, the plaintiff must satisfy a two-pronged test: first, allege sufficient jurisdictional facts bringing the defendant within Florida's long-arm statute; second, show sufficient minimum contacts with Florida to satisfy due process. Under section 48.193(2), the defendant must be engaged in substantial and not isolated activity within Florida, and due process requires purposeful availment, a claim deriving from the defendant's forum activities, and a substantial enough connection with the forum to make jurisdiction reasonable.
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One of 10 multiple-choice questions for this case. Pick an answer to see why.
Elena Cruz, a resident of Arizona, sued Noah Benton in Miami state court in 2021 over damage to her camper from a collision in New Mexico. That case ended in 2022. In 2025, Maya Benton, who was a passenger in the camper and was not a party to the 2021 case, sued Cruz in Florida for personal injuries from the same collision, alleging Florida personal jurisdiction solely because Cruz had previously filed the Miami action.
Should the Florida court most likely exercise personal jurisdiction over Cruz?
Explanation. A Florida court must find both a statutory basis under the long-arm statute and minimum contacts consistent with due process. Under the majority opinion, a nonresident's prior, now-concluded Florida lawsuit against a different person does not indefinitely subject that defendant to jurisdiction in a later separate suit by a new plaintiff, even if both suits arise from the same underlying event. The earlier filing alone is not enough to show the defendant is presently engaged in substantial and not isolated activity in Florida, and it is not enough purposeful availment to make later suit by a different party reasonably foreseeable. (Derived from Gibbons v. Brown (n.d.).)