KATRINA FREEMON, A CHILD, BY AND THROUGH HER NEXT FRIEND, NADINE FREEMON, APPELLANT,
v.
DR. HOWARD J. SCHUELE; DR. FRED TUCKER; DR. ARVELIO DE LA TORRE; MORTON F. PLANT HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION, INC.; AND FLORIDA PATIENT'S COMPENSATION FUND, APPELLEES
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The court held that litigation concerning attorney's fees and costs does not constitute record activity for the purpose of avoiding dismissal for lack of prosecution when the action is against multiple defendants.
Plaintiff appealed a dismissal for lack of prosecution. The trial court had previously granted summary judgment for one defendant and awarded attorney…
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PATTERSON, Judge.
The plaintiff below appeals from a final order of the trial court dismissing this medical malpractice action for lack of prosecution pursuant to Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.420(e). We reverse.
In May 1987, the trial court granted a final summary judgment in favor of Morton F. Plant Hospital, one of the defendants. The plaintiff appealed, and this court affirmed. On May 17, 1988, the hospital filed a motion for the award of attorney’s fees and costs pursuant to section 768.56, Florida Statutes (1980). An evidentiary hearing was held on this motion on August 3, 1988, and the court entered final judgments awarding costs and fees to the hospital on August 9, 1988.
On May 24 and 26, 1989, the remaining defendants filed motions to dismiss for failure to prosecute the action for more than one year. The trial court ruled that the August 1988, litigation concerning the award of fees and costs to the hospital did not constitute record activity directed toward the disposition of the cause as to one of multiple defendants and granted the motions. This determination was in error. See Biscayne Awning & Shade Co., Inc. v. Miami Beach Awning Co., 565 So. 2d 740, (Fla. 3d DCA 1990).
Reversed and remanded.
CAMPBELL, A.C.J., and THREADGILL, concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
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Simmons v. Dakal Dev. Corp., 632 So. 2d 717 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994)…ause for failure to prosecute the action against them individually. This is so because rule 1.420(e) only authorizes the dismissal of “actions,” not individual parties. Utset v. Campos, 548 So. 2d 834 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989). See also Freeman v. Schuele, 566 So. 2d 817 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990); Biscayne Awning & Shade Co., Inc. v. Miami Beach Awning Co., 565 So. 2d 740 (Fla. 3d DCA 1990). Accordingly, the litigation concerning the condominium association’s motion to dismiss was record activity directed toward the dispo…
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D.A. DeVANE v. P.J. Constructors, Inc., 710 So. 2d 1375 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998)…elief is a substantive pleading that sets forth the relief the defendant seeks. Moreover, a defendant’s claim for attorney’s fees is calculated to speed a case to conclusion by identifying the parties’ respective legal risks. See Freeman v. Schuele, 566 So. 2d 817, 818 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990); Biscayne Awning & Shade, Inc. v. Miami Beach Awning Co., 565 So. 2d 740, 741 (Fla. 3d DCA 1990);. Volusia’s second response to PJ’s request to produce is also sufficient activity to preclude dismissal. See Kodner v. Florida…
Authorities Cited
- Morgan v. Morgan, 565 So. 2d 740 (Fla. 3d DCA 1990)