Litigants are not entitled to costs when a case is dismissed to be heard in a more convenient forum, a Florida appellate court ruled Wednesday.

The Third District Court of Appeal reversed a Miami judge's costs award to Toyota subsidiaries after the case was dismissed on forum non conveniens grounds. Moving a case to another country's courts does not count as a “judgment” for costs purposes, the panel ruled, noting the question had not been directly addressed before by Florida courts.

“An order granting dismissal on forum non conveniens grounds resolves a procedural issue, not a substantive issue in the case,” Third DCA Chief Judge Leslie Rothenberg wrote, with Judges Kevin Emas and Edwin Scales concurring. “Liability has yet to be determined.”

Forum non conveniens is a significant issue for many cases in the court's jurisdiction because of the amount of international litigation in Miami, often called the capital of Latin America.

In this case, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Eric William Hendon dismissed Panamanian citizens Isabel and Eugenio Magdalena's personal injury lawsuit against the Japanese automaker, finding the case should be brought in Panama or Japan rather than the U.S. The judge granted Toyota's motion to tax costs, finding the automaker was entitled to the award as the “prevailing party.”

The Magdalenas sued Toyota for negligence and breach of warranty after an air bag allegedly failed to deploy when Eugenio Magdalena got into a crash. Spinal injuries left Magdalena partially paralyzed.

The court found that case law called into question whether Toyota was a “prevailing party” under the statute. But regardless of whether the “prevailing party” standard applies, the trial court erred by awarding costs because no judgment was entered, the panel ruled.

“A dismissal on the ground of forum non conveniens is not a judgment or ruling on the merits of the claims against Toyota, but rather a ruling which merely provides that another forum is more convenient and would best serve the ends of justice,” the judges wrote.

There is still a chance that the forum question could lead to Toyota recovering costs down the line, the court noted. The case has been refiled in Panama.

“Although the forum issue was hotly debated and extensively litigated, and may, at the end of the litigation, be determined to have been a 'significant issue' upon which Toyota prevailed, resolution of whether Toyota may recover its costs litigating that issue is premature,” the judges wrote.

Toyota is represented by Stephanie Simm, John Seipp Jr.,and Donald Blackwell of Bowman and Brooke in Coral Gables.

The Magdalenas are represented by Luis Llamas of Fowler Rodriguez, who works out of New Orleans and Coral Gables.

The attorneys did not immediately respond to requests for comment.