Opinion ID: 525101
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: the application of florida law

Text: 33 To assert personal jurisdiction over a nonresident defendant, federal courts must engage in a two-part analysis. Pesaplastic, C.A. v. Cincinnati Milacron Co., 750 F.2d 1516, 1521 (11th Cir.1985); Ford Motor Co. v. Atwood Vacuum Machine Co., 392 So.2d 1305, 1308 (Fla.) cert. denied 452 U.S. 901, 101 S.Ct. 3024, 69 L.Ed.2d 401 (1981). Courts first analyze the jurisdictional problem by looking at the applicable state long-arm statute. Pesaplastic, 750 F.2d at 1521. If this inquiry is satisfactorily answered, the court considers whether asserting jurisdiction offends the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment. Id. at 1521. Specifically, the court decides whether the nonresident defendant has such minimum contacts with Florida that maintenance of the suit does not offend 'traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice.'  International Shoe Co. v. Washington, 326 U.S. 310, 316, 66 S.Ct. 154, 158, 90 L.Ed. 95 (1945) (quoting Milliken v. Meyer, 311 U.S. 457, 463, 61 S.Ct. 339, 342, 85 L.Ed. 278 (1940)). The court now considers each of these issues in turn. 34 Under Florida law, clauses conferring personal jurisdiction are insufficient to establish in personam jurisdiction, absent an independent basis for jurisdiction under the long-arm statute. See McRae v. J.D./M.D., Inc., 511 So.2d 540 (Fla.1987). In McRae, the plaintiff attempted to assert personal jurisdiction over an objecting nonresident defendant who did not have any contacts with Florida, but who executed a contract that provided Florida law would apply and venue would be in Florida. 16 The court viewed the clause merely as an attempt to establish personal jurisdiction in the first instance over an objecting defendant who has done none of the acts set forth in [the long-arm statute]. Id. at 543. The Florida Supreme Court, therefore, declared that the contractual clause by itself was insufficient to establish in personam jurisdiction over a nonresident defendant. Id. 35 After McRae, Florida courts will not exercise jurisdiction solely on the basis of a contractual provision conferring jurisdiction if the nonresident defendant's acts do not satisfy the state long-arm statute. Accordingly, this court cannot merely rely on the contract Thayer signed that conferred personal jurisdiction and indicated venue, but instead must decide whether Florida can properly assert personal jurisdiction under the long-arm statute. 36 Among the several listed bases, the Florida long-arm statute allows Florida courts to assert jurisdiction over nonresident defendants who breach a contract by failing to perform acts in Florida as required by the contract. 17 Fla.Stat. Sec. 48.193(1)(g). Proudfoot contends that this section of the long-arm statute is satisfied because Thayer breached the employment agreement by failing to turn over confidential information to Proudfoot in Florida as required by the contract. 18 We agree. 37 Paragraph 5 of the Employment Agreement between Proudfoot and Thayer specifically provides that Thayer, upon termination of employment, shall deliver to Proudfoot all confidential materials. Thayer, however, destroyed or threw away all documents or materials containing classified information. Thayer's failure to return these materials to Proudfoot in Florida constitutes a breach of a contract in Florida and thus Thayer falls within the purview of the long-arm statute. See Thompson v. King, 523 F.Supp. 180, 183 (M.D.Fla.1981) (failure to pay $40,000 in Florida as required by contract is sufficient basis to establish jurisdiction under long-arm statute); Gilbert v. Herne, 544 So.2d 226, 14 Fla.L.Weekly 846 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989) (nonresident defendant's failure to send contractually promised payments to Florida satisfies long-arm statute); Harris v. Caribank, 536 So.2d 394 (Fla. 4th DCA 1989) (long-arm statute satisfied where defendant failed to make payments in Florida as required by contract). 19 38 After deciding that the long-arm statute provides a basis to assert personal jurisdiction over Thayer, the court must determine whether the due process clause allows Florida courts to establish in personam jurisdiction over the nonresident defendant. Normally, courts consider whether the defendant purposefully established minimum contacts with the forum state. International Shoe v. Washington, 326 U.S. at 316, 66 S.Ct. at 158. This analysis requires courts to determine whether the defendant's conduct and connection with the forum state are such that he should reasonably anticipate being hailed into court there. World-Wide Volkswagen Corp. v. Woodson, 444 U.S. 286, 297, 100 S.Ct. 559, 567, 62 L.Ed.2d 490 (1980). 39 Because the nonresident defendant in the present case contractually agreed to personal jurisdiction in Florida, the usual due process analysis need not be done. 20 As the Supreme Court noted in Burger King, the due process analysis is unnecessary where a nonresident defendant has consented to suit in a forum. Burger King, 471 U.S. at 472, 473 n. 14, 105 S.Ct. at 2181, 2182 n. 14. Quite simply, parties to a contract may agree in advance to submit to the jurisdiction of a given court. Insurance Corp. of Ireland, Ltd. v. Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinee, 456 U.S. 694, 704, 102 S.Ct. 2099, 2105, 72 L.Ed.2d 492 (1982) (quoting National Equipment Rental, Ltd. v. Szukhent, 375 U.S. 311, 316, 84 S.Ct. 411, 414, 11 L.Ed.2d 354 (1964)); see also Petrowski v. Hawkeye-Security Co., 350 U.S. 495, 76 S.Ct. 490, 100 L.Ed. 639 (1956). The enforcement of an agreement conferring jurisdiction does not offend due process where the provision is freely negotiated and not unreasonable or unjust. See Burger King, 471 U.S. at 472, 473 n. 14, 105 S.Ct. at 2181, 2182 n. 14; see also The Bremen v. Zapata Off-Shore Co., 407 U.S. 1, 15, 92 S.Ct. 1907, 1916, 32 L.Ed.2d 513 (1972); Cf. Shawmut Boston Int'l Banking Corp. v. Duque-Pena, 767 F.2d 1504, 1507 (11th Cir.1985). Thayer has not presented any evidence that the agreement was signed under duress or is unreasonable. Accordingly, having contractually waived his due process right not to be subjected to suit in a forum without sufficient contacts, Thayer cannot now assert that personal jurisdiction in Florida violates his due process rights.