ADVANCED WOUND CARE, LLC
v.
CONTACT MEDICAL SUPPLY, LLC
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
A defendant cannot invoke strict compliance with statutory service requirements to defeat jurisdiction when the defendant's own evasiveness and gamesmanship prevented the plaintiff from obtaining a proper address for substituted service.
[1] Equitable estoppel prevents a defendant from invoking strict statutory compliance with service of process requirements when the defendant's own evasive or deceptive condu…
Previewing 1 of 1 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“the doctrine of equitable estoppel precludes Contact Medical Supply from benefitting from its own deceptive actions”
The court explained why Contact Medical Supply could not rely on strict statutory compliance when its own conduct prevented service.
Advanced Wound Care attempted substituted service on Contact Medical Supply in Hillsborough County but could not obtain an address due to Contact Medi…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Transfer Of Venue cases and more on FLexlaw
DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF FLORIDA
SECOND DISTRICT
ADVANCED WOUND CARE, LLC, Appellant,
v.
CONTACT MEDICAL SUPPLY, LLC, Appellee.
No. 2D2026-0764
October 28, 2026
Appeal pursuant to Fla. R. App. P. 9.130 from the Circuit Court for Hillsborough County; Mark R. Wolfe, Judge.
V. Stephen Cohen, Jacquelyn H. Konakovic, and Connor Kennedy of Bajo Cohen Agliano, P.A., Tampa; and Adam Hersh of Blue Chip Law, Tampa, for Appellant.
Jonathan B. Harris of The Law Offices of Jonathan B. Harris, P.A., Coral Gables (withdrew after briefing); Michael S. Hoffman of Lessne Hoffman, PLLC, Ft. Lauderdale, for Appellee.
KHOUZAM, Judge.
Advanced Wound Care (plaintiff below) appeals the nonfinal order granting the motion to quash service of process and transfer venue filed by Contact Medical Supply (defendant below). Contact Medical Supply has filed a confession of error, conceding that the trial court erred in granting the motion and requesting reversal. We accept the confession of error and reverse.
Contact Medical Supply appropriately concedes that the trial court's ruling cannot be supported by good faith argument. The trial court quashed Advanced Wound Care's substituted service upon Contact Medical Supply in this action in Hillsborough County and transferred venue to Miami-Dade County where Contact Medical Supply had filed its related action, in which Contact Medical Supply had perfected personal service upon Advanced Wound Care. The trial court's ruling was premised on its finding that Advanced Wound Care had failed to effect substituted service by failing to strictly comply with the mailing requirement of section 48.161(3), Florida Statutes (2025). But the record shows that Advanced Wound Care did not have an address for Contact Medical Supply due to Contact Medical Supply's own evasiveness and gamesmanship. Under these circumstances, the doctrine of equitable estoppel precludes Contact Medical Supply from benefitting from its own deceptive actions. See, e.g., Triad Discount Buying Servs., Inc. v. Special Data Processing Corp., 761 So. 2d 1181, 1182 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000) (applying equitable estoppel where appellee filed suit first only because of its own gamesmanship and deceit). Accordingly, we reverse and remand for this case to proceed in Hillsborough County.
Reversed and remanded with instructions.
MORRIS and GUARD, JJ., Concur.
Opinion subject to revision prior to official publication. 2
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Triad Disc. Buying Servs., Inc. v. Special Data Processing Corp., 761 So. 2d 1181 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000)