EASTERN CEILING AND SUPPLY CORP., INC., APPELLANT,
v.
POWERHOUSE INSULATION, INC., ETC., ET AL., APPELLEES
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Eastern Ceiling appeals a trial court's order setting aside a final judgment in its favor under Rule 1.540, claiming the judgment was based on a mistake of law. The court reversed, holding that mistakes of law cannot be corrected under Rule 1.540 and must instead be addressed through appeal.
The trial court erred in setting aside the final judgment based on mistake of law. Mistakes of law are judicial errors that must be addressed through appeal, not through Rule 1.540 relief, which is restricted to the narrow grounds stated in the rule and does not authorize correction of legal errors.
[1] A trial court errs in granting a motion to set aside a final judgment pursuant to Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.540 on the ground that the judgment was entered becaus…
[2] A mistaken view of the law is considered a judicial error and is not a ground for relief under Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.540(b)(1).
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“rule 1.540 was not "intended to serve as a substitute for the new trial mechanism prescribed by rule 1.530 nor as a substitute for appellate review of judicial error."”
Establishes that Rule 1.540 has a narrow purpose and cannot be used to circumvent normal appellate review procedures.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceEastern Ceiling successfully moved to strike appellees' pleadings at trial, relying on the 1971 version of Florida's fictitious name statute and argui…
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PER CURIÁM.
Appellant Eastern Ceiling and Supply Corp. appeals a non-final order granting appellees’ motion to set aside final judgment. We reverse. The trial court erred in granting appellees’ motion to set aside the final judgment pursuant to Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.540 on the ground that the judgment was entered because of a mistake of law.
At the trial in this case, appellant, relying on the 1971 version of the fictitious name statute, successfully moved to strike appellees’ pleadings. Appellant represented to the court that a defendant who has not complied with the statute “is precluded from either prosecuting or defending a case.” However, section 865.09 was amended in 1985 to eliminate the provision that a non-complying party could not defend an action. Section 865.09(5)(b), Florida Statutes (1985) specifically provides that a non-complying business is not precluded from defending any action, suit, or proceeding in any court of this state. The amendment had prospective application only and did not apply to any actions pending on its effective date of June 5, 1985. The instant case was filed in 1986.
The trial court entered a final judgment in favor of appellant for $131,339. Appel-lees filed a motion for rehearing on July 27, 1990, alleging that appellant had misled the trial court with regard to the contents of section 865.09. The court denied appellees’ motion for rehearing on July 30, 1990. There was no appeal.
Appellees then filed a motion to set aside the final judgment pursuant to Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.540, asserting that during the trial, appellant persuaded the court that the 1971 version of section 865.09 was applicable, resulting in the entry of final judgment against appellees. Appellees argued that because the court relied on a material misrepresentation of fact as to section 865.09 in entering final judgment in favor of appellant, the court should set aside the judgment based upon fraud as authorized by Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.540(b)(3).
The trial court set aside the final judgment, specifically finding a mistake of law, rather than fraud. Appellant then filed the instant appeal.
In Curbelo v. Ullman, 571 So. 2d 443 (Fla.1990), the supreme court cited this court’s decision in Fiber Crete Homes, Inc. v. Division of Administration, 315 So. 2d 492, 493 (Fla. 4th DCA 1975), for the propo-, sition that rule 1.540 was not “intended to serve as a substitute for the new trial mechanism prescribed by rule 1.530 nor as a substitute for appellate review of judicial error.” The supreme court held that the trial court’s error in determining damages without a jury was not the type of “mistake” for which relief is available under rule 1.540(b)(1). Curbelo, 571 So. 2d at 444-45.
Mistakes which result from oversight, neglect or accident are subject to correction under rule 1.540(b)(1). However, judicial error such as “mistaken view of the law” is not one of the circumstances contemplated by rule. Fiber Crete Homes, 315 So. 2d at 493; see also In re Estate of Beeman, 391 So. 2d 276 (Fla. 4th DCA 1980); Constant v. Tillitson, 214 So. 2d 91 (Fla. 1st DCA 1968). In the instant case, the trial court’s error in permitting a non-jury determination of damages when the right to jury trial had not been waived was a mistake of law which must be appealed. Thus, Curbe-lo’s argument that relief should be granted under rule 1.540(b)(1) based upon judicial mistake is without merit.
Id. at 445.
A mistaken view of the law is considered to be a judicial error. Gross v. Simanonok, 366 So. 2d 47, 49 (Fla. 2d DCA 1978), cert. denied, 376 So. 2d 75 (Fla.1979).
The law is well settled in Florida that a trial court is restricted in vacating a final judgment pursuant to Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.540 to the narrow grounds stated therein and is not empowered to revisit a final judgment on the merits to correct errors of law. Herskowitz v. Herskowitz, 513 So. 2d 1318, 1319 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987), rev. denied, 525 So. 2d 878 (Fla.1988).
GLICKSTEIN, C.J., and DOWNEY and ANSTEAD, JJ., concur.
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Citator
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A.W. Baylor Plastering, Inc. v. Mellon Stuart Co. & Seaboard Sur. Co., 611 So. 2d 108 (Fla. 5th DCA 1992)…under 1.530 has been denied or not such motion is filed and the ten days for filing same has expired — the trial court loses jurisdiction to rehear the judgment on the merits. Accord Eastern Ceiling and Supply Corp. v. Powerhouse Insulation, Inc., 589 So. 2d 383 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991) (trial court’s mistake of law in ruling the defendants could not defend case because of failure to comply with fictitious name statute did not provide basis for vacating judgment). See also Barrios v. Draper, 423 So. 2d 1002, 100…
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State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Isom, 681 So. 2d 1170 (Fla. 5th DCA 1996)….1990); Harrison v. La Placida Community Association, Inc., 665 So. 2d 1138 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996); Davidson v. Lenglen Condo Association, 602 So. 2d 687 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992); Eastern Ceiling and Supply Corporation, Inc., v. Powerhouse Insulation, Inc., 589 So. 2d 383 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991). The mediation settlement agreement specifically provides that the action shall be dismissed with prejudice upon receipt and bank clearance of the settlement proceedings. Regardless of the Isoms’ motivation for not depositing th…
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Carnival Leisure Indus., Ltd. v. Sherman, 641 So. 2d 202 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994)…PER CURIAM. Reversed. Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.540(b) is not intended to provide relief for errors or mistakes of law in a final judgment. See Eastern Ceiling & Supply Corp. v. Powerhouse Insulation, Inc., 589 So. 2d 383, 384 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991); Curbelo v. Ullman, 571 So. 2d 443, 444 (Fla.1990). WARNER, POLEN and PARIENTE, JJ., concur.…
Previewing 3 of 5 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Arnaldo Curbelo, M.D. v. Ullman, 571 So. 2d 443 (Fla. 1990)
- Fiber Crete Homes, Inc. v. Division OF Administration, 315 So. 2d 492 (Fla. 4th DCA 1975)
- Allstate Ins. Co. v. Calero, 391 So. 2d 276 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980)
- Herskowitz v. Herskowitz, 513 So. 2d 1318 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987)
- In re Est. of George E. Beeman, 391 So. 2d 276 (Fla. 4th DCA 1980)
- Gross v. Simanonok, 366 So. 2d 47 (Fla. 2d DCA 1978)
- Constant v. Tillitson, 214 So. 2d 91 (Fla. 1st DCA 1968)