EL MUNDO SUPERMARKET, INC., A DISSOLVED FLORIDA CORPORATION, APPELLANT,
v.
MICHELSA SUPERMARKET, INC., A FLORIDA CORPORATION, AND JOSE GUITIAN AND ISRAEL GUITIAN, APPELLEES
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El Mundo Supermarket filed duplicate foreclosure complaints without notifying the clerk of the prior action, violating local court rules. The trial court dismissed the second action with prejudice for this procedural violation, but the appellate court reversed, holding that dismissal with prejudice is too severe a penalty for mere failure to comply with local rules absent willful abuse of court processes.
Dismissal with prejudice is too severe a penalty to impose on litigants for counsel's failure to obtain a transfer to the original judge. Dismissal with prejudice is a drastic punishment that should be imposed only absent deliberate and insubordinate regard for the court's authority. The law abhors denial of access to courts except for willful abuse of court processes.
[1] Dismissal with prejudice is a severe penalty for counsel's procedural errors, particularly when it denies litigants access to the courts.
[2] A litigant's access to the courts should not be denied except for willful abuse of court processes.
Previewing 2 of 5 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“We hold that dismissal with prejudice under these circumstances is too severe a penalty to impose upon the litigants for counsel's failure to obtain a transfer to the original judge.”
The court's core holding that dismissal with prejudice is an inappropriate sanction for procedural noncompliance absent willful abuse.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceEl Mundo Supermarket filed a chattel mortgage foreclosure action. While that case was pending, El Mundo filed an identical complaint in a new case wit…
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BASKIN, Judge.
The appeal questions the propriety of the court’s dismissal of appellant’s complaint with prejudice based upon counsel’s failure to comply with local court rules designed to preclude forum-shopping. We reverse.
Appellant El Mundo Supermarket, Inc. originally brought an action to foreclose a chattel mortgage. While that proceeding was pending, El Mundo filed an identical complaint in a new case without referring the clerk to the prior action as required by local court rules. Appellees sought dismissal of the second action alleging the existence of the prior action. The motion was denied at that time. Eventually, the first case was dismissed for lack of prosecution. Approximately a year and a half after the dismissal of the first complaint, appellant filed a motion requesting the administrative judge to transfer the case to the judge assigned in the original cause. The motion was denied. Appellees then filed a motion to dismiss predicated upon appellant’s failure to comply with applicable rules of procedure. The trial court agreed and dismissed the complaint with prejudice.
Appellees contend that counsel’s failure to file a “Notice to the Clerk of Previous Filing” in accordance with Rule 10 of the Local Rules of Practice in the General Jurisdiction Division of the Circuit Court of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit (Dade County, 1976) indicates that counsel was forum-shopping and that dismissal was appropriate. Fla.R.Civ.P. 1.420(b).
We hold that dismissal with prejudice under these circumstances is too severe a penalty to impose upon the litigants for counsel’s failure to obtain a transfer to the original judge. The law abhors denial of access to the courts for any reason other than the willful abuse of the processes of the court. Rashard v. Cappiali, 171 So. 2d 581 (Fla.3d DCA 1965). Dismissal with prejudice is a drastic punishment absent deliberate and insubordinate regard for the court’s authority. In re Estate of Ulm, 345 So. 2d 1099 (Fla.2d DCA 1977); State v. Fattorusso, 228 So. 2d 630 (Fla.3d DCA 1969). We note that there was no impediment to appellee seeking a transfer to the original division.
Dismissal of the first complaint for lack of prosecution should not have operated as a bar to the filing of the second action and the trial court erred in entering its order of dismissal. Hassenteufel v. Howard Johnson, Inc. of Florida, 52 So. 2d 810 (Fla.1951); Tapper v. Taunton, 371 So. 2d 595 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979).
Reversed and remanded.
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Wright v. Allen, 611 So. 2d 23 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992)…nal Bank, 415 So. 2d 161 (Fla. 4th DCA 1982), this generally requires a deliberate and insubordinate disregard of the court’s authority, so as to amount to a willful abuse of the process. See El Mundo Supermarket, Inc. v. Michelsa Supermarket, Inc., 388 So. 2d 324 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980); In re: Estate of Ulm, 345 So. 2d 1099 (Fla. 2d DCA 1977). Although there may be some question as to whether the pro se appellant’s failure to obtain new counsel would constitute such willful abuse, we find it unnecessary to resol…
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Anderson v. Emro Mktg. Co., 550 So. 2d 531 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989)…that should not be imposed unless the actions of a party show a deliberate and insubordinate disregard for the court’s authority. In re Ulm’s Estate, 345 So. 2d 1099, 1100 (Fla. 2d DCA 1977); El Mundo Supermarket, Inc. v. Michelsa Supermarket, Inc., 388 So. 2d 324, 325 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980). Absent such a finding, it would be error to dismiss the action with prejudice for noncompliance with Rule 1.190(a). The appealed order is reversed and the cause is remanded for further proceedings consistent herewith. ERVI…
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Smalley v. Layne, 428 So. 2d 298 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983)…ntuoso v. McGrath & Associates, Inc., 385 So. 2d 112 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980), and the ultimate sanction of dismissal should be imposed only for flagrant and willful disobedience to order of court. El Mundo Supermarket, Inc. v. Michelsa Supermarket, Inc., 388 So. 2d 324 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980); Santuoso v. McGrath & Associates, Inc., supra. The dismissal of the wife’s claims with prejudice, which would make the matters in issue res judicata, was entirely too severe a sanction to impose upon the wife for the failure of h…
Authorities Cited
- Rashard v. Cappiali, 171 So. 2d 581 (Fla. 3d DCA 1965)
- Hassenteufel v. Johnson, 52 So.2d 810 (Fla. 1951)
- Headley v. Baron, 228 So. 2d 630 (Fla. 3d DCA 1969)
- In re Est. of Dorothea A. ULM, 345 So. 2d 1099 (Fla. 2d DCA 1977)
- Tapper v. Taunton, 371 So. 2d 595 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979)
- Blincoe v. State, 371 So. 2d 595 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979)