MADEIRA MANAGEMENT, INC., A FLORIDA CORPORATION, APPELLANT,
v.
CHAPMAN REALTY CORPORATION, A FLORIDA CORPORATION, APPELLEE

Fla. 2d DCA | 1984-12-07
No. 84-820
DANAHY and CAMPBELL, JJ., concur.
459 So. 2d 1177 Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District (1984) Positive Treatment
Cited by 2 cases

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Synopsis

Madeira Management appeals the trial court's dismissal of its case for lack of prosecution under Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.420(e). The appellate court reversed, holding that Rule 1.420(e) does not apply once a case has been tried and taken under advisement by the trial judge, as further prosecution by the parties is not required at that stage.


Holding

Rule 1.420(e) does not apply once a case has been tried and taken under advisement by the trial judge. Once a judge takes a case under advisement after trial and does not request further action from counsel, the matter is in the hands of the trial judge and no further prosecution by the parties is required.


Headnotes

[1] A case that has been tried and taken under advisement by the trial judge is not subject to dismissal for lack of prosecution under Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.420(e…

[2] The purpose of Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.420(e) is to ensure prompt prosecution of cases until submission for determination and to prevent dockets from being clog…

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Key Quotes

“the purposes of rule 1.420(e) are: (1) to require prompt and efficient prosecution of cases until submitted for disposition or determination by the judge or jury, and (2) to prevent the clogging of trial court dockets with litigation that has been abandoned for the stated period.”

Establishes the policy rationale underlying Rule 1.420(e) and why it does not apply to cases under advisement

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Facts & Procedural History

Madeira Management's case was tried before Judge Murphree on August 6, 1979, and the judge took the case under advisement without entering final judgm…

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Opinion of the Court
SCHEB, Acting Chief Judge.

SCHEB, Acting Chief Judge.

Madeira Management, Inc., plaintiff below, seeks reversal of the trial court’s dismissal of its case for lack of prosecution. We reverse.

A visiting circuit judge, the Honorable John A.H. Murphree, originally heard this case on August 6, 1979. After trial the judge took the case under advisement. On September 15, 1981, Madeira filed a motion for retrial, alleging that the trial judge had not only failed to enter final judgment but was not prepared to make a ruling. Judge Allen C. Anderson heard Madeira’s motion and treated it as a motion for a new trial. On January 4, 1982, he granted a new trial provided Judge Murphree did not render a final judgment within twenty days of Judge Anderson’s order. A copy of this order was sent to Judge Murphree.

Chapman Realty Corporation filed a petition in this court seeking a writ of common law certiorari to quash Judge Anderson’s January 4 order. We granted the petition and quashed the order. See Chapman Realty Corp. v. Madeira Management, Inc., 414 So. 2d 1180 (Fla. 2d DCA 1982). We found that Judge Anderson was not presented with any evidence that Judge Murphree’s authority to rule on the case had terminated by reason of death, disability, or other equivalent reason for his failure to rule. We noted that the parties’ proper remedy was a mandamus action to compel Judge Murphree to render a decision in the case. Neither party sought a writ of mandamus to require Judge Mur-phree to rule.

On March 23, 1984, Judge Robert F. Michael, on his own motion, dismissed this case under Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.420(e) for lack of prosecution. This appeal by Madeira ensued.

Madeira argues that rule 1.420(e) does not apply once a case has been tried and taken under advisement by the trial judge to determine its merits. We agree. See Strader v. Morrill, 360 So. 2d 1137 (Fla. 1st DCA 1978). As Judge Booth noted in Strader, the purposes of rule 1.420(e) are: (1) to require prompt and efficient prosecution of cases until submitted for disposition or determination by the judge or jury, and (2) to prevent the clogging of trial court dockets with litigation that has been abandoned for the stated period. Id. at 1138. Where, as here, a judge has taken a case under advisement after trial and has not requested any further action of counsel, the matter is in the hands of the trial judge. Thus, no further prosecution by the parties is required. Cf. Sarasota Cattle Co. v. Mikos, 431 So. 2d 260 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983), approved, 453 So. 2d 402 (Fla.1984) (failure of the litigants and counsel to pursue further action after a party has filed a notice for trial is not grounds for dismissal for lack of prosecution).

Chapman argues that in Chapman Realty Corporation we admonished Madeira that the proper remedy was to file a petition for writ of mandamus to compel Judge Murphree to render a decision, it is true that we said mandamus, and not certiorari, was the proper remedy; however, neither party was required to pursue this course.

Accordingly, we reverse the trial court’s order dismissing this case for lack of prosecution.1

DANAHY and CAMPBELL, JJ., concur. . We have a continuing concern that there should be no unnecessary delays in litigation; therefore, at oral argument we discussed the matter candidly with counsel. They agreed to cooperate in a joint request to Judge Murphree to obtain a prompt ruling. We expect that counsel may accomplish this task by working with the Chief Judge of the Sixth Judicial Circuit.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Arleen Hansen Carlson v. Jeflis Prop. Mgmt. Corp., 904 So. 2d 642 (Fla. 2d DCA 2005)
    …he action is in a state of limbo due to the failure of the court itself to act. :■ ■ : Thus, this court has held that ' rule 1.420(e) does not apply once a case has been prosecuted through trial. In Madeira Management, Inc. v. Chapman Realty Corp., 459 So. 2d 1177 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984), a visiting circuit judge conducted a trial and took the case under advisement but did not render a decision. After some procedural mishaps and a long delay, the defendant sought dismissal of the action for failure to prosecute. T…

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