Editor’s note: The authors of this article served as counsel for the appellee.

On July 25, Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed a trial court decision in Southern Wall Products v. Stephen Bolin and Bakers Pride Oven Company, Case No. 4D18-875 (July 25, 2018), and ordered the dismissal of an asbestos defendant due to lack of personal jurisdiction. Personal jurisdiction is the power of a court to exercise its authority over a particular party. It is often raised in cases where foreign defendants did little or no business in Florida. Its application is defined by statutes in most states. Its overall limits are defined by the U.S. Supreme Court, and based on due process. Under Supreme Court precedent, if a party is not “at home” in a state, it cannot be sued there unless it has enough “minimum contacts” to show that it subjected itself to a suit there.