NEBUCHADNEZZAR FREEMAN AND HELEN FREEMAN, APPELLANTS,
v.
KEITH LEROY TONEY AND ORKIN EXTERMINATING COMPANY, INC., APPELLEES
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.
The Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal affirmed the dismissal of Freeman's lawsuit for failure to prosecute within one year, holding that the departure of a lawyer from the plaintiff's firm does not constitute good cause for missing the prosecution deadline.
No good cause was shown. The departure of a lawyer from the plaintiff's firm does not constitute good cause for failure to comply with the one-year prosecution deadline. Good cause requires both some contact with the opposing party and some form of excusable conduct or occurrence that arose other than through negligence or inattention to pleading deadlines.
[1] Good cause for failure to prosecute requires some contact with the opposing party and some form of excusable conduct or occurrence that arose other than through negligenc…
[2] A change of attorneys, a change of offices, or secretarial changes do not constitute good cause for failure to prosecute.
Previewing 2 of 3 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“good cause requires some contact with the opposing party and some form of excusable conduct or occurrence which arose other than through negligence or inattention to pleading deadlines”
Establishes the legal standard for what constitutes good cause in failure to prosecute cases
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceFreeman filed a lawsuit against Toney and Orkin Exterminating Company. Due to a lawyer's departure from Freeman's firm, Freeman did not receive the tr…
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 Good Cause For Failure To Prosecute cases and more on FLexlaw
DOWNEY, Judge.
This case is before the court on remand from the Supreme Court of Florida wherein that court quashed the holding of this court in Toney v. Freeman, 600 So. 2d 1099 (Fla. 1992), and directed this court “to address the issue of whether good cause was shown for failure to prosecute.”
The facts of the case can be gleaned from our decision in Freeman v. Toney, 591 So. 2d 200 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991), and the decision of the supreme court cited above.
As good cause for failure to prosecute appellant contended below that, due to the departure of a lawyer from the firm representing appellant, they did not receive the order issued by the trial court requesting advice regarding the status of the case until after the time limit for compliance. Be that as it may, it does not constitute good cause for the failure to prosecute within one year as required by the rule.
As appellees contend, good cause requires some contact with the opposing party and some form of excusable conduct or occurrence which arose other than through negligence or inattention to the pleading deadline. Appellees note that a change of attorneys is not good cause, nor are claims that counsel changed offices, suffered several secretarial changes and simply overlooked the case. Since no good cause was shown herein, appellees submit that the order of dismissal must be upheld.
In Barton-Malow Co. v. Gorman Co. of Ocala, Inc., 558 So. 2d 519, 521 (Fla. 5th DCA 1990), the court held that “good cause requires some contact with the opposing party and some form of excusable conduct or occurrence which arose other than through negligence or inattention to pleading deadlines.” See also Togo’s Eatery of Florida, Inc. v. Frohlich, 526 So. 2d 999 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988) (good cause which will avoid dismissal for failure to prosecute must include contact with the opposing party and some form of excusable conduct other than negligence or inattention to pleading deadlines).
Based upon this record, appellants have failed to show an abuse of discretion in the dismissal for lack of prosecution. Accordingly, we affirm the order appealed from.
OWEN, WILLIAM C., JR., and WALDEN, JAMES H., Senior Judges, concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Nationsbank, N.A. v. Ziner, 726 So. 2d 364 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999)…e plaintiff has an opportunity to establish good cause why the action should not be dismissed. Id. at 1308-9; The standard by which this court must assess the propriety of a dismiss [*368] al under the rule is abuse of discretion. Freeman v. Toney, 608 So. 2d 863 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992). We believe the court abused its discretion in dismissing the action. Even though Nationsbank did not effect proper service within ninety days, it did serve Berezin with the summons and complaint by mail and, thus, met the manda…
-
Modellista de Europa (Corp.) v. Redpath Inv. Corp., 714 So. 2d 1098 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998)…d cause why the action should remain pending. Good cause requires some contact with the opposing party and some form of excusable conduct or occurrence which arose other than through negligence or inattention to pleading deadlines. Freeman v. Toney, 608 So. 2d 863 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992). The court considered the argument of appellant’s counsel and found that the matters stated did not constitute good cause. We conclude the court did not abuse its discretion in granting the motion. AFFIRMED. STONE, C.J., and GR…
-
Palokonis v. EGR Enters., Inc., 652 So. 2d 482 (Fla. 5th DCA 1995)…123 (Fla. 1st DCA 1993). But a showing of good cause requires some contact with the opposing party and some form of excusable conduct or occurrence which arose other than through negligence or inattention to the pleading deadline. Freeman v. Toney, 608 So. 2d 863 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992). In Perez v. Cohen, 362 So. 2d 985 (Fla. 3d DCA), cert. denied, 365 So. 2d 710 (Fla.1978), the court stated that participation in an appeal of a related case does not constitute good cause and cannot be used to avoid a dismissal…
Previewing 3 of 8 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Toney v. Nebuchadnezzar Freeman, 600 So. 2d 1099 (Fla. 1992)
- Togo's Eatery OF Fla., Inc. v. Frohlich, 526 So. 2d 999 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988)
- A.P. v. State, 558 So. 2d 519 (Fla. 5th DCA 1990)
- Barton-Malow Co. & The Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co. v. Gorman Co. OF Ocala, Inc., 558 So. 2d 519 (Fla. 5th DCA 1990)
- Nebuchadnezzar Freeman and Helen Freeman v. Toney, 591 So. 2d 200 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991)