UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA

CASE No.: 20-23561-CIV-ALTONAGA

NUNO ALPENDRE,

Plaintiff,

v.

CORAL GABLES ASSET 

MANAGEMENT LLC and 

DAVID COGGINS,

Defendants.

_________________________/

ORDER

THIS CAUSE is before the Court upon Plaintiff’s Showing of Good Cause Why This 

Action Should Not be Dismissed for Failure to Perfect Service of Process and Motion to Extend 

the Deadline to Effect Substitute Service [ECF No. 11], filed on November 20, 2020. The relief 

Plaintiff seeks is obvious from the title of his Motion. 

Plaintiff filed this action on August 26, 2020 (see Compl. [ECF No. 1]), and on September 

11, 2020, the Court entered an Order [ECF No. 9] reminding Plaintiff of his obligation under the 

Rules to serve Defendants with the summons and Complaint on or before November 24, 2020 or 

show cause why the action should not be dismissed (see id.). In his Motion, Plaintiff describes 

how Defendant David Coggins evaded service of process on four occasions from November 3 to 

November 16, 2020. (See Mot. 2). Plaintiff states he reached out to counsel for Coggins on 

October 2, 2020 to inquire whether counsel would accept service for Coggins but was told counsel 

was not authorized to do so. (See id. 2–3). Defendant Coral Gables Asset Management LLC is 

now defunct and presumably has no assets, and Plaintiff surmises Coggins is aware of this lawsuit 

and is evading service. (See id. 3–4). Consequently, Plaintiff asks for an additional 30 days to 

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serve the Secretary of State under Florida Statute section 48.181(1). (See id. 3–5). 

Plaintiff’s Motion is silent on what efforts, if any, Plaintiff engaged in to serve Coggins 

before the four attempts in November and the October 2, 2020 email inquiry to defense counsel. 

It appears Plaintiff did nothing to serve Defendants from August 26 to November 3. Plaintiff had 

ample time to hire a process server to effectuate service or to seek to be allowed to serve the 

Secretary of State; certainly, the Court’s September 11, 2020 Order appears to have had little 

effect. On these facts, the Court does not find Plaintiff has shown good cause for his delay or his 

request for a 30-day extension. See Melton v. Wiley, 262 F. App’x 921, 924 (11th Cir. 2008) 

(noting district court properly exercised its discretion in denying additional time to perfect service 

after it considered plaintiff’s inaction when notified of an insufficiency defense claimed in the 

defendant’s answer and failure to seek an extension of time to serve, and the absence of evidence 

of an attempt by the defendant to evade service). 

Further, notably absent from the Motion is any request to amend the Amended Complaint

[ECF No. 5] to include jurisdictional facts that bring Coggins within the applicable statute. See 

Alhussain v. Sylvia, 712 So. 2d 806, 807 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998) (substitute service under section 

48.181 improper where the complaint alleged the defendant was a Florida resident but “failed to 

allege, nor was it amended to allege, that [the defendant] had become a nonresident or was 

concealing his whereabouts.” (alteration added)); see also Taverna Opa Trademark Corp. v. 

Ismail, No. 08-20776-Civ, 2009 WL 1220513, at *1 (S.D. Fla. Apr. 30, 2009) (stating 

jurisdictional allegations are required in the complaint as a prerequisite to seeking the benefit of 

substitute service). The Court is also not advised there exists a statute-of-limitations bar to refiling 

the action. See, e.g., Horenkamp v. Van Winkle & Co., Inc., 402 F.3d 1129, 1132 (11th Cir. 2005) 

(citation omitted). 

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Being fully advised, it is 

ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that Motion to Extend the Deadline to Effect Substitute 

Service [ECF No. 11] is DENIED.

DONE AND ORDERED in Miami, Florida, this 23rd day of November, 2020.

_________________________________

CECILIA M. ALTONAGA

UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

cc: counsel of record

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