307 So. 2d 909

Anthony BIFANO, Appellant, v. CREATIVE MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATES INC., OF FLORIDA, et al., Appellees.

No. 74-969.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District.

Jan. 28, 1975.

Rehearing Denied Feb. 26, 1975.

Horton, Perse & Ginsberg, Brumer, Moss, Cohen & Rodgers, Miami, for appellant.

Brickman, Male & Bloom, Miami, for Creative Management Associates, appellee.

High, Stack, Davis & Lazenby, Miami, for Ray Pierce, amicus curiae.

Before PEARSON and NATHAN, JJ., and CHARLES CARROLL (Ret.), Associate Judge.

PEARSON, Judge.

The appellant, Anthony Bifano, was named as a third party defendant in the trial court. The appellee, Creative Management Associates Inc. of Florida, was the defendant in an action seeking damages for the breach of a contract for personal services brought by plaintiff Southern General Corporation d/b/a Thunderbird Motor Hotel. Creative Management as cross-plaintiffs sought to secure indemnity from Bifano for any liability to the plaintiff upon the theory that Bifano caused the breach. Process was served upon Bifano, a resident of the State of Texas, outside the State of Florida under the claimed authority of Fla.Stat. § 48.182 (1971) 1. Bifano moved to dismiss the *910crossclaim upon the ground that he was not subject to the jurisdiction of the Florida courts. The trial judge denied the motion. This interlocutory appeal is from that order. We reverse.

The complaint in the original action sought damages for the failure of Creative Management to carry out its contract with the plaintiff to supply the personal services of an entertainer for plaintiff’s hotel in Florida. The cross-complaint alleged that if Creative Management were held responsible to the hotel for its claim, then Bifano would be liable to Creative Management because it was Bifano who represented to Creative Management that the entertainer would appear if the contract were made with plaintiff.

We hold that the trial judge mistakenly held the section applicable to the non-resident Bifano. In Youngblood v. Citrus Associates of New York Cotton Exchange, Inc., Fla.App.1973, 276 So.2d 505, the court set forth the conditions under which former section 48.182 could be used to subject a non-resident to the jurisdiction of the Florida courts. Applying the Youngblood conditions to the instant case, we find that the contract breach of Creative Management is the “wrongful act” out of which the action arose, but that the alleged inducement for the contract is an independent “wrongful act” which is not alleged to be the cause of damage in Florida. See Bayitch, “Conflict of Laws: Florida 1970-1971,” 26 U.Miami L.Rev. 1, 25 (1971).

The order appealed is reversed with directions to enter an order dismissing the crossclaim.

Reversed.

Bifano v. Creative Management Associates Inc. of Florida
307 So. 2d 909

Case Details

Name
Bifano v. Creative Management Associates Inc. of Florida
Decision Date
Jan 28, 1975
Citations

307 So. 2d 909

Jurisdiction
Florida

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