Pozo v. Roadhouse Grill, Inc.

Eric Shine filed a workers’-compensation lawsuit against Roadhouse North Miami, Inc. (RNM) and Roadhouse Grill, Inc. (Roadhouse) (defendant) in Dade County, Florida. Roadhouse and RNM were distinct legal entities. RNM had a workers’ compensation and employer liability insurance contract with Humana Workers’ Compensation Services (Humana) (plaintiff), a foreign corporation, that contained a forum-selection clause in favor of Orange County, Florida. Pursuant to the insurance contract, Humana hired Rafael Pozo (plaintiff) to defend both RNM and Roadhouse against Shine’s lawsuit. During the proceedings, Shine’s claim against RNM was dismissed, and Humana withdrew its defense of Roadhouse after receiving a declaratory judgment that Humana was not contractually required to defend or indemnify Roadhouse. Roadhouse ultimately reached a settlement with Shine. Roadhouse then sued Humana and Pozo, alleging that Pozo negligently represented Roadhouse, and that Pozo and Humana conspired to Roadhouse’s detriment. Roadhouse filed its claim in Orange County, alleging that Orange County was an appropriate venue because (1) Humana was authorized to do business in Orange County; (2) Pozo, as a Florida attorney, was authorized to practice law in Orange County; and (3) the forum-selection clause in RNM’s insurance contract with Humana favored Orange County. Pozo moved to dismiss or transfer venue, arguing that (a) the forum-selection clause was inapplicable because Roadhouse and Pozo were non-signatories; and (b) Roadhouse failed to meet its burden of proof to support its choice-of-venue because Roadhouse failed to establish either Pozo’s or Roadhouse’s county-of-residence. The trial court denied Pozo’s motion. Pozo appealed.