THE DOWNTOWN INVESTMENTS, LTD., A FLORIDA LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, APPELLANT,
v.
E.M. SEGALL A/K/A PAT SEGALL AND ATLANTIC COAST DEVELOPMENT CORP., A FLORIDA CORPORATION, APPELLEES

Fla. 3d DCA | 1989-10-10
No. 89-60
Before NESBITT, LEVY and GERSTEN, JJ.
551 So. 2d 561 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (1989) Positive Treatment
Cited by 12 cases

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Synopsis

Downtown Investments appealed the trial court's dismissal with prejudice of its amended complaint alleging fraud against E.M. Segall and Atlantic Coast Development Corp. The Third District Court of Appeal reversed, holding that dismissal with prejudice was an abuse of discretion where the amended complaint had been filed only once and there was no showing of abuse of the amendment privilege or that the complaint was incapable of amendment.


Holding

The dismissal with prejudice of the amended complaint was an abuse of discretion and contravened the general policy of liberality in amending pleadings. Because the complaint had been amended only once and there was no showing that Downtown had abused its amendment privilege or that the complaint was incapable of amendment, the dismissal with prejudice without leave to further amend was improper.


Headnotes

[1] An amended pleading generally supersedes an original pleading unless the amended pleading expresses an intention to preserve portions of the original.

[2] Dismissal of a first amended complaint with prejudice, without leave to amend, constitutes an abuse of discretion when the complaint is not clearly unamendable and the pr…

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Key Quotes

“the dismissal with prejudice of appellant's first amended complaint without leave to amend was an abuse of discretion 'since the complaint has been amended only once, and there has been no showing either that appellant has abused the privilege to amend or that the complaint is clearly not amendable, ... '”

Establishes the standard that dismissal with prejudice of an amended complaint is an abuse of discretion when the complaint has been amended only once and there is no showing of abuse or incapability of amendment.

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Facts & Procedural History

Downtown Investments had secured a final judgment in early 1988 against Edward and Barry Segall for fraudulent inducement and breach of a computer cen…

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Opinion of the Court
LEVY, Judge.

LEVY, Judge.

Plaintiff below appeals the trial court’s order dismissing its amended complaint with prejudice. We reverse.

In a separate action, appellant, the Downtown Investments, Ltd. [Downtown], secured a final judgment in early 1988 against third parties Edward and Barry Segall, who were found to have fraudulently induced Downtown to enter into a computer center management agreement and option, which agreement and option then were found to have been breached, with various damages accruing to Downtown.

In April of 1988, Downtown initiated the action underlying this appeal by filing a six-count initial complaint against appellees E.M. Segall and Atlantic Coast Development Corp. alleging, inter alia, that Downtown had obtained the earlier mentioned judgment and, furthermore, that Edward and Barry Segall had acted as agents of the appellees herein. Upon defendants’ motion, the initial complaint was dismissed with leave to amend. Appellant filed an amended two-count complaint alleging fraud based upon the direct actions of appellees as active tortfeasors. Upon defendants’ motion, this complaint was also dismissed, this time with prejudice. This appeal follows.

Appellant counsel’s succinct argument correctly, and very effectively, focused attention on the pivotal issue in this case, to-wit: the contents of appellant’s amended complaint. It is the general rule that an original pleading is superseded by an amended pleading which, as in the case sub judice, does not express an intention to save any portion of the original pleading. Baron Oil Co. v. Nationwide Mut. Fire Ins. Co., 470 So. 2d 810 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985); Commercial Garden Mall v. Success Academy, Inc., 453 So. 2d 934 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984); Rice v. Clement, 184 So. 2d 678 (Fla. 4th DCA 1966); Shannon v. McBride, 105 So. 2d 16 (Fla. 2d DCA 1958).

The amended complaint in this case was comprised of two counts alleging fraud arising from appellees’ direct actions, and was the first pleading before the trial court, in this case, to so allege. While we do not address the issue of the appropriateness of the dismissal per se or the legal sufficiency of the amended complaint, we do determine that dismissal of this amended complaint “with prejudice”, particularly in view of the fact that the grounds contained in defendant’s motion were insufficient to warrant any dismissal, contravenes the general policy of liberality in the amending of pleadings so as to reach the merits of a case, and, further, conclude that “the dismissal with prejudice of appellant’s first amended complaint without leave to amend was an abuse of discretion ‘since the complaint has been amended only once, and there has been no showing either that appellant has abused the privilege to amend or that the complaint is clearly not amendable, ... ’” Kennedy v. Santa Rosa Island Authority, 530 So. 2d 520, 521 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988) (quoting Thompson v. McNeill Company, Inc., 464 So. 2d 244 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985).

As a secondary matter, appellant responds to appellees’ estoppel argument by contending that the appellees/defendants herein, as well as the claims and issues asserted against them, are new to this action.

We agree. The judgment secured in the prior action was entered against Edward and Barry Segall only, not against any of the appellees herein, and, further, the judgment was entered on Downtown’s amended counterclaim, which sought damages from Edward and Barry Segall only, for fraud, breach of contract, slander of title, breach of implied covenant of good faith, tortious interference, conversion, trade name appropriation, and civil theft. We need only conclude, as we do, that there is no identity of parties between the prior and the instant actions, Trucking Employees of N. Jersey Welfare Fund, Inc. v. Romano, 450 So. 2d 843 (Fla.1984); Mobil Oil Corp. v. Shevin, 354 So. 2d 372 (Fla.1977), in order to dispense with appel-lees’ estoppel argument.

Reversed and remanded.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • Ruiz v. Aerorep Grp. Corp., 941 So. 2d 505 (Fla. 3d DCA 2006)
    …f action under the Whistleblower’s Act and did not indicate an intention to preserve any part of the prior complaints. See Arthur v. Hillsborough County Bd. of Criminal Justice, 588 So. 2d 236, 237 (Fla. 2d DCA 1991); Downtown Invs., Ltd. v. Segall, 551 So. 2d 561, 562 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989), review denied, 563 So. 2d 633 (Fla.1990). By failing to reassert a claim for a Whistleblower’s Act violation in the second amended complaint, the Ruizes abandoned the claim and cannot resurrect it on appeal. Arthur, 588 So.…
  • Arthur v. Hillsborough Cnty. Bd. of Crim. Just., 588 So. 2d 236 (Fla. 2d DCA 1991)
    …8, 1 So. 2d 562 (1941). It is a long established rule of law that an original pleading is superseded by an amended pleading which does not indicate an intention to preserve any portion of the original pleading. Downtown Investments, Ltd. v. Segall, 551 So. 2d 561 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989), review denied, 563 So. 2d 633 (Fla.1990). In this instance, the original and first amended complaints are superseded by the second, third, and fourth amended complaints, all of which failed to reassert or mention the respondeat s…
  • E.P. and P.P. v. Barton Hogreve, 259 So. 3d 1007 (Fla. 5th DCA 2018)

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