Service Of Process On A Cruise Ships' Doctor Made By Serving The Doctor's Attorney Aboard The Cruise Ship Docked In Miami, Florida Is Deemed Proper Service.
ANDRAS POTA, etc., et al., Appellants, vs. KENNETH HOLTZ,M.D., Appellee.
CASE NO. 3D02-1095
COURT OF APPEAL OF FLORIDA, THIRD DISTRICT
2003 Fla. App. LEXIS 12371
August 20, 2003, Opinion Filed
PRIOR HISTORY: An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Barbara Levenson, Judge. LOWER TRIBUNAL NO. 01-1315.
DISPOSITION: Reversed.
PROCEDURAL POSTURE: Appellant parents, individually and as personal representatives of their deceased son's estate, sued appellees, a cruise line and a ship's doctor, for wrongful death, medical malpractice, personal injury, and negligent and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Appellants sought review of the non-final order of the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County (Florida), which granted the doctor's motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction.
OVERVIEW: The doctor authorized his attorney to accept personal service and his attorney acknowledged that the doctor had been personally served. However, on appeal, the doctor argued that he was not served within the trial court's jurisdiction, i.e., Florida, because service took place aboard a foreign-flagged vessel. The appellate court concluded that a Liberian vessel moored at a dock in the City of Miami was within the State of Florida, not Liberia. Thus, because the ship was in Florida, the process server could have boarded the ship and served the doctor personally. Instead, by agreement of counsel, service was effected on the doctor's attorney. Thus, personal jurisdiction over the doctor was attained through personal service and the service was proper.
OUTCOME: The order dismissing the case was reversed.
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