CONTINENTAL INSURANCE COMPANY, A FOREIGN CORPORATION, APPELLANT,
v.
EMPLOYERS' FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY, A FOREIGN CORPORATION, AND ELMER RILEY, APPELLEES
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Continental Insurance Company appealed a summary judgment dismissing its indemnity and contribution suit against Employers' Fire Insurance Company and Elmer Riley based on the five-year statute of limitations. The court reversed, holding that the statute of limitations had not begun to run because the Minute Book entry did not constitute a final judgment under Florida law.
The statute of limitations did not begin to run from the December 12, 1966 Minute Book entry because that entry did not constitute a final judgment under Florida law. A judgment must be reduced to writing, signed, and made a matter of record, and must satisfy specific requisites such as reciting the judgment amount, authorizing appropriate writs, and clearly indicating the relief granted or that the plaintiff 'take nothing by his suit.'
[1] A judgment is rendered for purposes of being final when it is reduced to writing, signed, and made a matter of record.
[2] A Minute Book entry that does not recite the amount of damages awarded or authorize the issuance of a writ for recovery does not constitute a final judgment.
Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Pursuant to the provisions of Rule 1.3, F.A.R., 32 F.S.A. a judgment is 'rendered' for purposes of being final when it is reduced to writing, signed and made a matter of record.”
Establishes the legal standard for when a judgment becomes final for statute of limitations purposes.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceContinental Insurance Company brought suit for indemnity and contribution stemming from two judgments entered against it in an automobile accident cas…
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McNULTY, Judge.
Appellant insurance company brought suit for indemnity and contribution stemming from two judgments entered against it in an automobile accident case. Appellees raised the five-year Statute of Limitations which governs this type action.1 The trial judge entered summary judgment in favor of appellees, holding that the statute had run. We reverse.
The sole question here is whether the statute began to run from the signing of a Minute Book entry on December 12, 1966, in which case the present action is barred, or began to run on November 8, 1967 when the subject judgments were reduced to separate writings, signed and made a matter of record.
Pursuant to the provisions of Rule 1.3, F.A.R., 32 F.S.A. a judgment is “rendered” for purposes of being final when it is reduced to writing, signed and made a matter of record. There is some question in the minds of some whether a signed Minute Book entry, if otherwise sufficient, satisfies this requirement. We need not decide that here because, in any case, even if it does the Minute Book entry herein simply doesn’t satisfy the requisites of a “judgment.” After the verdicts were recorded in the Minute Book the following entry appears under date of December 12, 1966:
“Court recessed.
Court reopened on its own motion and found and rendered Judgment on the Verdicts.
The Court ordered Plaintiff’s Exhibits Nos. 14, 15 and 16 returned to the Plaintiff.
Court recessed.
/s/ Harold S. Smith Circuit Judge”
This entry is substantially the same as that considered by our Supreme Court in Catchings v. Florida-McCracken Concrete Pipe Co.2 In that case the entry reads:
“The Court having directed a verdict for Defendant herein on December 20th, and said Jury having returned a verdict for Defendant, judgment is hereby rendered herein for the Defendant above named.”
The court held:
“This may be regarded as an order that an appropriate judgment for the defendant be duly entered, but it is not such a final judgment as will support a writ of error." (Italics ours.)
A “judgment” for a plaintiff in an action for money damages ought at least recite as the order and judgment of the court the amount in the verdict of the court or jury, and, while perhaps its omission is not fatal, it should further authorize the issuance of an appropriate writ for the recovery thereof. A “judgment” granting relief other than money should clearly order and set forth the relief granted and, again, should authorize the issuance of the necessary process for its enforcement. Finally, a “judgment” for a defendant ought clearly indicate that the plaintiff “take nothing by his suit,” or words of like import, that no further judicial action is needed in the case and the defendant be relieved of any further attendance in the matter; that “he go hence without day,” as it is said.
None of these requisites appear in the “judgments” herein under scrutiny. In view whereof, therefore, we hold that the Minute Book entry herein did not constitute the final “judgments” from which the Statute of Limitations would have begun to run in this action.
Accordingly, the judgment appealed from should be, and it is hereby, reversed; and the cause is remanded for further proceedings not inconsistent herewith.
Reversed.
MANN, C. J., and BOARDMAN, J., concur. . See, F.S. § 95.11(3), F.S.A. . (1931), 101 Fla. 792, 135 So. 561.
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Emp'rs' Fire Ins. Co. v. Cont'l Ins. Co., 326 So. 2d 177 (Fla. 1976)…ENGLAND, Justice. This cause is before us on a petition for writ of certiorari to review a decision of the Second District Court of Appeal, reported at 292 So. 2d 413, Fla.App., holding that the signed minute book entry of a circuit judge does not constitute a “judgment” for purposes of commencing the statute of limitations. We have jurisdiction under Article V, § 3(b)(3) of the Florida Constitution, based on a d…
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Meadows Dev. Co. v. Ihle, 345 So. 2d 769 (Fla. 1st DCA 1977)…6 (Fla.1975). Minute book records are themselves ineffective evidence of judgments when they omit details characteristically found in adjudicatory writings signed by a judge and filed with the clerk. Continental Ins. Co. v. Employers’ Fire Ins. Co., 292 So. 2d 413 (Fla.2d DCA 1974). The judgment in the case before us was reduced to writing, signed by a circuit [*775] judge and filed by the clerk. It was so recorded in Duval County’s Official Records. We believe that recordation satisfied the letter and spiri…
Authorities Cited
- Emory Catchings v. Florida-McCracken Concrete Pipe Co., 101 Fla. 792 (Fla. 1931)