John Gregorian v. New Century Alhambra Automobiles, Inc.
The Third District affirmed the dismissal of a small claims action for lack of personal jurisdiction and the denial of the plaintiff's request for jurisdictional discovery. Because the statement of claim was unverified and pleaded jurisdiction only in conclusory terms, and because the defendant's jurisdictional affidavit went uncontroverted by any sworn proof, the trial court acted within its wide discretion in refusing discovery and granting dismissal without an evidentiary hearing.
Key facts
- John Gregorian filed a small claims statement of claim in Monroe County Court against New Century Alhambra Automobiles, Inc.
- The statement of claim was unverified and contained only conclusory allegations of personal jurisdiction over the defendant.
- +2 more key facts with a free trial
Holdings
- Denial of a request for jurisdictional discovery is reviewed for abuse of discretion, and a trial court enjoys wide latitude in managing discovery; refusing jurisdictional discovery is not…
- +1 more holding with a free trial
Why it matters
This opinion is a clean, citable restatement of the burden-shifting sequence every Florida practitioner faces on a personal jurisdiction motion, and it applies that sequence in the small claims setting where litigants… — full analysis with a trial
Read the full opinion, holdings & search — free for 30 days
The full opinion PDF, the rules the court applied, our significance analysis, the background facts, and full-text search across every tracked Florida decision — in your hands.
- Search every tracked Florida decision in seconds
- Save, tag & file the cases that matter into your own library
- Read the full plain-English analysis and holdings
Not ready to sign up? Get the free Friday digest — the week's key Florida decisions by email, no login required.
Florida Court Tracker provides summaries of publicly available court opinions for informational and research purposes only. This is not legal advice and does not create an attorney–client relationship. Always verify holdings against the official opinion.