mother. The estate of Edna Winston, who died a resident of Florida, is being probated in Florida. Ronald and his brother Bruce Winston are co-beneficiaries of the estate. A provision in Ms. Winston's will required that costs, fees and estate taxes incurred in the administration of her estate be paid by the trustees out of assets in a New York marital trust. Rogers & Wells, a New York law firm, was employed by the personal representative to perform legal services for the Florida estate. Bruce objected to the payments made to Rogers & Wells. In response to the objections, the personal representative filed a petition to review the compensation to Rogers & Wells. Rogers & Wells filed a motion to dismiss/abate the action, claiming that they are notlaw of the case.
Even if virtually all of the services provided by Rogers & Wells were performed in New York, because Rogers & Wells was employed to perform these services by an estate being probated in Florida, it was doing business in Florida and should have foreseen that it would be haled into a Florida court in the event of litigation over the services performed for the estate. In In Re Estate of Vernon, 609 So.2d 128 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992), an estate being probated in Florida sued a New York law firm for damages, and this court held that non-resident partners of the New York law firm were subject to Florida jurisdiction because of their work on an estate being probated in Florida. See also Windels, Marxs,