ANNIE WEBB AND RUDOLPH WEBB, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS HUSBAND AND WIFE, APPELLANTS,
v.
JOHN CHAMBLY, JR., APPELLEE
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
Plaintiffs in a personal injury action appealed a summary judgment dismissing their claims as time-barred under Florida's statutes of limitations. The court held that although plaintiffs filed their original action within the prescribed period, their voluntary dismissal and subsequent refiling nine months later fell outside the limitations period, and neither rule 1.420(a)(1) nor statutory tolling provisions permitted the delay.
The refiled action was barred by the applicable statutes of limitations. Although plaintiffs' original filing was timely and rule 1.420(a)(1) permits one voluntary dismissal without prejudice, this rule does not suspend or toll the limitations period to permit refiling months later at plaintiffs' convenience. Even if the rule could suspend the statute, any such suspension would be limited to the remaining portion of the original limitations period or some other reasonable alternative.
[1] Statutes of limitations are not satisfied by merely filing an action within the prescribed period if that action is subsequently voluntarily dismissed and refiled outside…
[2] Florida Statutes section 95.051 enumerates the exclusive circumstances under which statutes of limitations may be tolled.
Previewing 2 of 4 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 have considerable difficulty in reading section 95.11(5)(d) as a mere 'condition precedent to suit', because its plain language requires that actions 'shall be commenced within' the various periods set out afterwards.”
Establishes that the statute is a true limitations period, not merely a condition precedent, and must be read according to its plain language.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligencePlaintiffs filed a personal injury action on October 23, 1987, within the deadline required by sections 95.11(5)(d) and 631.68, Florida Statutes (the …
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Voluntary Dismissal Without Prejudice cases and more on FLexlaw
FARMER, Judge.
Plaintiffs in a personal injury action appeal a summary judgment holding that their claims are barred by the statutes of limitations. Their insurance carrier became insolvent and plaintiffs initially filed their action within one year after the deadline for filing claims with FIGA, as required by sections 95.11(5)(d) and 631.68, Florida Statutes. The deadline was Janu ary 16, 1988, and plaintiffs originally filed on October 23, 1987.
As it happens, however, they voluntarily dismissed that action on April 5, 1989. They then refiled the same action more than nine months later on January 18, 1990. Defendant moved for summary judgment on his statutes of limitations defense, arguing that the refiled action was commenced outside the limitations period and that the previous filing should be disregarded for limitations purposes. Plaintiffs responded, and make the same argument here, that they did file within the prescribed period and have thus satisfied the statute. Moreover, they argue, these statutes are merely conditions precedent to suit rather than limitations periods and they have plainly satisfied the policies behind them by their first filing. Additionally, they contend that rule 1.420(a)(1) allows them one voluntary dismissal without prejudice and that the limitations periods should be thus tolled by their first filing.
We have considerable difficulty in reading section 95.11(5)(d) as a mere “condition precedent to suit”, because its plain language requires that actions “shall be commenced within” the various periods set out afterwards. We also find insurmountable the language in section 95.051, Florida Statutes, which limits tolling of statutes of limitations to the circumstances set out within, none of which include those present here.
That leaves plaintiffs’ simple argument that they did originally file within the prescribed period, and the rule allowed them one free dismissal without prejudice. To them, the bar of the statute of limitations against their refiled action constitutes the very kind of prejudice that the rule says they are entitled to be without. There is an implication in their argument that a suspension of the statute by operation of rule 1.420(a)(1) should somehow be different from a tolling of the statute within the meaning of section 95.051.
Whatever kind of juristic charms their argument may have some day as an abstract matter, it breaks down entirely with the history involved here. If when they filed their original action they had x days remaining on the limitations period, it would seem that even their analysis would require at least that they then refile within x days, or even some shorter but reasonable period. Here they did not do so. Inexplicably, they waited months to revisit the courthouse with their claims.
Hence, even assuming any merit to their simple notion, they cannot seriously contend that the refiling can be done whenever they get around to it. Even if there were any merit to their contention, there would have to be some limits on such a refiling, surely at least within the unused part of the original period or some other reasonable alternative. In this case, there was no such alacrity. The summary judgment must be
AFFIRMED.
DOWNEY and GUNTHER, JJ„ concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Betancourt v. Fla. Ins. Guar. Ass'n, Inc., 153 So. 3d 936 (Fla. 2d DCA 2014)…Homeowners were required to file suit against FIGA by May 2, 2012, within one year of the deadline for filing claims provided in the order of liquidation. See Fla. Ins. Guar. Ass’n v. Garcia, 614 So. 2d 684, 685 (Fla. 2d DCA 1993); Webb v. Chambly, 584 So. 2d 216, 216-17 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991); Montano v. Fla. Ins. Guar. Ass’n, 535 So. 2d 658, 659 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988); see also Fla. Ins. Guar. Ass’n v. Jones, 802 So. 2d 483, 483 (Fla. 3d DCA 2001) (citing section 631.68 and stating that a declaratory action was “…
-
Fla. Ins. Guar. Ass'n, Inc. v. Jones, 802 So. 2d 483 (Fla. 3d DCA 2001)…2d 504 (Fla. 1st DCA 1978) (holding that where suit is dismissed and becomes final, with no appeal having been taken, the subsequent suit was a completely new cause of action barred by the expiration of the statute of limitations); Webb v. Chambly, 584 So. 2d 216 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991) (holding that where plaintiffs in negligence action filed claim with FIGA before deadline, but voluntarily dismissed action and re-filed eight months later, action was too late). The suit is barred by section 631.68. Accordingl…
-
In re Se. Banking Corp., 855 F. Supp. 353 (S.D. Fla. 1994)…xpressly provided by the statute will toll the statute of limitations. See Fla.Stat. § 95.051(2) ("No disability or other reason shall *358 toll the running of any statute of limitations except those specified in this section ..."); Webb v. Chambly, 584 So.2d 216, 217 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991) (Section 95.051 "limits tolling of statutes of limitations to the circumstances set out within"). A reading of section 95.051 readily reveals that the doctrine of adverse domination is not among those tolling circumstances r…