KENNETH N. HANKIN AND IRENE HANKIN, APPELLANTS,
v.
ANTHONY BLISSETT AND JACQUELINE D. BLISSETT AND GEORGE SYLVIA, APPELLEES
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The appellees moved to dismiss an appeal because the notice of appeal was signed by the appellant's attorney's secretary rather than the attorney himself. The court denied the motion, holding that a pleading signed by an attorney's authorized agent on the attorney's behalf is effectively signed by the attorney and does not constitute a jurisdictional defect.
A notice of appeal signed in the name of the attorney by the attorney's authorized agent is, in effect, a pleading signed by the attorney and does not constitute a jurisdictional defect. The motion to dismiss was denied.
[1] A pleading signed in the name of an attorney by the attorney's authorized agent is considered a pleading signed by the attorney.
[2] A notice of appeal or pleading will not be stricken unless it is unsigned or signed with the intent to defeat the purpose of the rule.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“a pleading signed in the name of the attorney by the attorney's authorized agent is, in effect, a pleading signed by the attorney”
Establishes the court's holding that authorized agent signatures on an attorney's behalf satisfy pleading signature requirements.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceKenneth N. Hankin and Irene Hankin filed a notice of appeal in a dispute with Anthony Blissett, Jacqueline D. Blissett, and George Sylvia. The notice …
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DANIEL S. PEARSON, Judge.
The appellees have moved to dismiss the appeal on the ground that the appellants’ notice of appeal, having been signed by a non-lawyer, the secretary to the attorney for the appellants,1 rather than the attorney for the appellants, is a nullity, and any amended notice would be untimely.
We deny the motion. First, although Florida Rule of Judicial Administration 2.060(d) requires, inter alia, that “[e]very pleading and other paper of a party represented by an attorney shall be signed by at least one attorney of record in his individual name,” a pleading signed in the name of the attorney by the attorney’s authorized agent is, in effect, a pleading signed by the attorney.2 Second, the rule itself provides that only a pleading which is not signed or is signed with intent to defeat the purpose of the rule may be stricken, and the notice herein is surely not such a pleading. Third, in the a fortiori case of Great Southern Trucking Co. v. Standard Wholesale Grocery Co., 110 So. 2d 507 (Fla. 3d DCA 1959), this court refused to treat a notice of appeal filed on behalf of a corporation by an attorney not admitted to practice law in this state as jurisdictionally deficient and allowed the appeal to proceed, provided that either Florida counsel appeared or an order permitting out-of-state counsel to appear was procured. See Magnolias Nursing and Convalescent Center v. Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services, Office of Licensure and Certification, 428 So. 2d 256 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982), rev. denied, 449 So. 2d 265 (Fla.1984) (dictum), but see Daytona Migi Corp. v. Daytona Automotive Fiberglass, Inc., 417 So. 2d 272 (Fla. 5th DCA 1982) (dictum).
Motion denied.
. The secretary, Ana Diaz, was authorized to sign and signed the name of the attorney, Harvey D. Rogers, on the notice. This fact came to light during earlier proceedings before a commissioner appointed by this court to determine whether the appeal was timely filed, a question which could not be resolved without an evidentiary hearing.
. Where, as here, there is no contention that the notice or pleading was authored and prepared by a non-attorney, the public policy prohibiting the unauthorized practice of law is not implicated. Cf. Szteinbaum v. Kaes Inversiones y Valores, C.A., 476 So. 2d 247 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985).
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Wemett v. State, 536 So. 2d 349 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988)…ida decision presenting facts most analogous to those before us, a motion to dismiss the appeal was predicated on the signing of the notice of appeal by the secretary of counsel for appellant, rather than the attorney himself. In Hankin v. Blissett, 475 So. 2d 1303 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985), our sister court determined that such a defect was not jurisdictional and denied the motion to dismiss. We believe that Hankin was correctly decided and we cannot reconcile the rule of law announced there with the position of res…
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Bldg. Inspection Servs. v. Olemberg, 476 So. 2d 774 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985)…., 27 F.R.D. 491 (S.D.Tex.1961); McClintock v. Serv-Us Bakers, 103 Ariz. 72, 436 P. 2d 891 (1968); Best v. Jones, 644 P. 2d 89 (Colo.App.1982); Roland v. W & L Motor Lines, Inc., 32 N.C.App. 288, 231 S.E. 2d 685 (1977); See also Hankin v. Blis-sett, 475 So. 2d 1303 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985), and, a default entered by a clerk, with such a “paper” in the file, was not authorized, therefore the trial court erred in refusing to set same aside. Reicheinbach v. Southeast Bank, N.A., supra; Chester, Blackburn & Roder, Inc.…
Authorities Cited
- Szteinbaum v. Kaes Inversiones y Valores, 476 So. 2d 247 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985)
- Daytona Migi Corp. v. Daytona Auto. Fiberglass Inc., 417 So. 2d 272 (Fla. 5th DCA 1982)
- The Magnolias Nursing & Convalescent Ctr. v. Dep't of Health & Rehabilitative Servs., 428 So. 2d 256 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982)
- Great S. Trucking Co. v. Standard Wholesale Grocery Co., 110 So. 2d 507 (Fla. 3d DCA 1959)