NOTICES OF DEPOSITION ARE NOT REQUESTS FOR AFFIRMATIVE ACTION AND CANNOT WAIVE OBJECTIONS TO PERSONAL JURISDICTION
Rebalko v. Atallah, 46 Fla. L. Weekly D596 (Fla. 4th DCA March 17, 2021):
The defendant moved to quash service of process, asserting that the summons was expired. The plaintiffs responded that the defendant waived any defenses to service of process because he filed two notices of deposition.
The trial court found those notices constituted a waiver of defendants’ objection to jurisdiction. A defendant waives a challenge to personal jurisdiction by seeking affirmative relief (such requests are logically inconsistent with an initial defense of lack of jurisdiction).
However, the filing of two notices of deposition does not constitute “some step” in the proceedings, amounting to a submission to the court’s jurisdiction. Requests for discovery do not constitute requests for affirmative relief, and therefore there was no waiver of defendants’ objection to jurisdiction.