FININVEST U.S. INCORPORATED, A FLORIDA CORPORATION, AND MERCEDES M. FERRE, APPELLANTS,
v.
DOSS, LYNCH & CASTRO, P.A., A DISSOLVED FLORIDA PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION, BY AND THROUGH ITS SURVIVING DIRECTOR, ARDEN DOSS, JR., STEPHEN A. LYNCH, III, AND JOSE LUIS CASTRO; AND ARDEN DOSS, JR., STEPHEN A. LYNCH, III, AND JOSE LUIS CASTRO, INDIVIDUALLY, APPELLEES
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Plaintiffs who recovered a judgment based on a valid real estate contract in federal court are estopped from claiming the contract never existed in a subsequent state court action against the law firm that drafted it.
A party who successfully litigated the existence of a valid contract in federal court is estopped from taking the contradictory position that the contract never came into being in a subsequent state court action.
[1] A party who obtains a judgment based on the existence of a valid contract is judicially estopped from asserting in a subsequent action that the contract never came into b…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Having made this election they will not be heard to say in the state court that no such contract ever came into being.”
Court's statement of the judicial estoppel doctrine applied to plaintiffs' contradictory positions across federal and state proceedings.
Plaintiffs recovered damages in federal court against Farmingdale based on a liquidated damages provision in a real estate purchase contract, which re…
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PER CURIAM.
Plaintiffs brought a lawsuit in the federal court to recover damages against one Farmingdale upon a liquidated damage provision of a real estate purchase contract. They recovered such a judgment which necessitated an obvious finding of a valid contract. They thereafter instituted an action in the state court attempting to recover against the appellee law firm on several .theories, underlying all of which is the basic position that the contract never came into being. The trial court entered a summary judgment for the appellees and we affirm.
The appellants recovered in the federal proceedings based on the theory they had a valid contract. Having made this election they will not be heard to say in the state court that no such contract ever came into being. Trucking Employees of North Jersey Welfare Fund, Inc. v. Romano, 450 So. 2d 843 (Fla.1984); Gordon v. Gordon, 59 So. 2d 40 (Fla.1952); O’Brien v. Brickell Townhouse, Inc., 439 So. 2d 982 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983); AGB Oil Company v. Crystal Exploration and Production Company, 406 So. 2d 1165 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981); United States v. Mendoza, — U.S.-, 104 S.Ct. 568, 78 L.Ed.2d 379 (1983); Scarano v. Central R. Co. of New Jersey, 203 F. 2d 510 (3rd Cir.1953); In re: Holiday Isles, Ltd., 29 B.R. 827 (S.D.Fla.1983).
Therefore the summary judgment under review is affirmed.
Affirmed.
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