Total Quality Logistics, LLC v. Trade Link Capital, Inc.
After the Third DCA previously reversed and directed dismissal based on an Ohio forum selection clause, the shippers filed a verified second amended complaint alleging new facts showing the freight broker actually acted as a 'carrier' whose cargo was tendered and stolen in Miami. The Third DCA affirmed denial of the renewed motion to dismiss, holding that dismissals for improper venue are without prejudice, that leave to amend was properly allowed, and that law of the case did not bar the amended pleading because the material facts had changed. The court further held the Carmack Amendment's special venue provision, if applicable, precludes enforcement of a contractual forum selection clause.
Key facts
- Shippers filed a verified second amended complaint against a freight broker alleging new facts that the defendant actually acted as a 'carrier' whose cargo was tendered and stolen in Miami, Florida.
- The trial court had previously dismissed based on an Ohio forum selection clause, but the Third DCA reversed and directed dismissal; shippers then amended their complaint with additional material facts.
- +2 more key facts with a free trial
Why it matters
Practitioners handling freight, logistics, and cargo-loss disputes now have Florida state-court authority that the Carmack Amendment's special venue provision can override an otherwise presumptively valid forum… — full analysis with a trial
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