Venue - Where Can I Sue Someone in Florida?

By: Zach McCormick
Date: June 11, 2019

In Florida, a person or business must be sued in their home county, where the "cause of action accrued" or place where the business is registered or property is located unless the parties agree otherwise. (See Florida Rules of Civil Procedure 47.011 and 47.051). 

An agreement otherwise (also known as a venue or forum selection clause) is extremely important because it can mean the difference between having a 'home-court advantage' and having to drive hours across the state to attend court or hire an unknown attorney in a city that is foreign to you. 

I have personally seen where a client made the logical (though incorrect) assumption that they needed to designate venue as being the county in which the defendant resided when they did not have to. It truly was a situation where they came so close to putting together a good contract but missed out on something that could have dramatically aided them in their negotiations.