FIRST & MID SOUTH ADVISORY COMPANY, WILLIE K. DAVIS, FRANKLIN G. CLARK, MICHAEL G. SHEARS, JOHN A. THWEATT, RICHARD H. BOTTS, DAVID F. CLARK, DENNIS F. CLOWERS, DAVID K. WARD, O. WILLIAM LONG AND GLENN EUBANKS, WHO AMONG OTHERS ARE NAMED AS MEMBERS OF THE C. D. JOINT VENTURE, BY AND THROUGH THEIR UNDERSIGNED COUNSEL, APPELLANTS,
v.
ALEXANDER/DAVIS PROPERTIES, INC., ET AL., AND DAVID E. GRAHAM, ET UX., APPELLEES

Fla. 4th DCA | 1981-06-17
Nos. 79-2206, 80-1014
LETTS, C. J., and MOORE, J., concur.
400 So. 2d 113 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (1981) Positive Treatment
Cited by 2 cases

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Synopsis

In this post-judgment discovery dispute, appellants challenged an attorney's fee sanction imposed by the trial court for failing to comply with discovery requests. The appellate court affirmed the sanction, holding that a court order is not a prerequisite to impose sanctions under Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.380(a)(4) for discovery violations.


Holding

The court held that a court order is not a condition precedent to the imposition of sanctions for discovery violations under Rule 1.380(a)(4). The trial court did not abuse its discretion in imposing the modest attorney's fee sanction given appellants' defaults over a two-year period and appellees' ongoing efforts to obtain discovery.


Headnotes

[1] A court order directing compliance with discovery is not a prerequisite for the imposition of sanctions for discovery violations.

[2] A party's motion for clarification or protection does not absolve them from the obligation to answer discovery requests for which no objection was made.

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Key Quotes

“a court order is not a condition precedent to authorize imposition of sanctions. Rule 1.380(a)(4), Florida Rules of Civil Procedure.”

Establishes the key legal principle that sanctions may be imposed for discovery violations without requiring a prior court order

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Facts & Procedural History

Appellees obtained a substantial judgment against appellants, which was later reversed on appeal. After the judgment was entered, appellees filed inte…

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Opinion of the Court
DOWNEY, Judge.

DOWNEY, Judge.

These consolidated appeals involve the validity of the award of an attorney’s fee as a sanction resulting from a motion to compel discovery.

Appellees obtained a substantial judgment against appellants. A petition for rehearing was denied and on plenary appeal the judgment for appellees was reversed.1

Shortly after the judgment for appellees was entered appellees filed interrogatories in aid of execution. Appellants’ objections to interrogatories were denied which ruling was affirmed on interlocutory appeal. Thereafter, without answering any of the interrogatories or producing the material demanded as to which no objection was made, appellants filed a motion in the circuit court for clarification and protection. Thereupon, appellees moved for an order compelling discovery and for sanctions.

The circuit court partially granted appellants’ motion for clarification and directed appellants to comply with the discovery requests within thirty days of the order granting the motion for clarification. The court also reserved ruling on the motion for sanctions. In due course the court entered an order awarding appellees reasonable attorney’s fees of $750 pursuant to Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.380(a)(4). It is that order appellants seek to have reviewed.

Appellants contend the circuit court simply could not impose sanctions upon them for non-compliance with discovery because it entered an order allowing appellants thirty days to comply. Thus, it is contended that appellants had violated no court order. However, a court order is not a condition precedent to authorize imposition of sanctions. Rule 1.380(a)(4), Florida Rules of Civil Procedure. The matters raised by appellants in their motion for clarification and their response to request for production and interrogatories did not absolve appellants from answering interrogatories and producing material as to which they made no objection. Considering these defaults in the context of appellees’ effort to obtain discovery over a period of two years since entry of the final judgment, we cannot say the trial judge abused his discretion in entering this modest attorney’s fee as a sanction.

Accordingly, the order appealed from is affirmed.

AFFIRMED.

LETTS, C. J., and MOORE, J., concur. . The final judgment was reversed by this court in Alexander/Davis Properties, Inc. v. Graham, 397 So. 2d 699 (1981). However that reversal does not affect the validity of the order under review since the appellees were acting within their rights in seeking to execute the judgment.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Thompson v. Lincoln AT Doral, L.P., 786 So. 2d 605 (Fla. 3d DCA 2001)
    …PER CURIAM. Affirmed. First & Mid South Advisory Co. v. Alexander/Davis Properties, Inc., 400 So. 2d 113 (Fla. 4th DCA 1981).…

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