ROXANA DELGADO, APPELLANT,
v.
J. BYRONS, INC., A FLORIDA CORPORATION, APPELLEE

Fla. 4th DCA | 2004-07-07
No. 4D03-3766
GUNTHER, STEVENSON and HAZOURI, JJ., concur.
877 So. 2d 822 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (2004) Positive Treatment
Cited by 19 cases

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.

Synopsis

Roxana Delgado appealed a trial court order striking her negligence complaint and dismissing the case without prejudice, as well as a final judgment awarding attorney's fees to defendant J. Byrons, Inc. The appellate court dismissed the appeal regarding the motion to strike for lack of jurisdiction because Delgado failed to timely appeal the February 13, 2003 order, and affirmed the award of attorney's fees.


Holding

The court dismissed the appeal regarding the motion to strike for lack of jurisdiction because the February 13, 2003 order was final and appealable but was not timely appealed within thirty days. The court affirmed the trial court's award of attorney's fees without further discussion.


Headnotes

[1] A dismissal of a cause of action without prejudice is a final, appealable order if its effect is to terminate judicial labor and require the plaintiff to refile the actio…

[2] A dismissal without prejudice becomes a dismissal with prejudice, as a practical matter, when the statute of limitations has expired, preventing refiling.

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

Key Quotes

“Although the phrase 'without prejudice' ordinarily indicates that an order is not final, there is one circumstance in which [a] dismissal without prejudice is final. If the effect of the order is to dismiss the case ... the language 'without prejudice' would not affect the finality of the order.”

Establishes the principle that dismissal without prejudice can still be final and appealable if it ends judicial proceedings

Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Facts & Procedural History

Delgado filed a negligence suit against J. Byrons, Inc. in 1997. Following discovery disputes, J. Byrons filed a motion to strike Delgado's pleadings …

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.


Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

Roxana Delgado sued J. Byrons, Inc. for negligence in 1997. Following a contentious period of discovery, J. Byrons filed a Renewed Motion to Strike Plaintiffs Pleadings and For Sanctions based on discovery violations. The trial court granted the motion. J. Byrons then sought both attorney’s fees based on a proposal for settlement and entry of final judgment. The trial court awarded attorney’s fees and entered a final judgment. Delgado appeals both the order granting the motion to strike and dismissing the cause and the final judgment granting attorney’s fees. We dismiss the appeal as to the issues raised regarding the motion to strike, and affirm as to the award of attorney’s fees.

Delgado raises three issues on appeal. In the first issue, Delgado asserts that the trial court erred by granting J. Byrons’s motion to strike. The order granting the motion to strike was entered on February 13, 2003, and stated: “ORDERED and ADJUDGED that said Motion is hereby GRANTED; Plaintiffs pleadings are stricken and cause dismissed w/o prejudice.” The notice of appeal was not filed until after the September 9, 2003 final judgment awarding attorney’s fees. J. By-rons maintains that Delgado cannot seek review of this order because she did not timely appeal.

“Although the phrase ‘without prejudice’ ordinarily indicates that an order is not final, there is one circumstance in which [a] dismissal without prejudice is final. If the effect of the order is to dismiss the case ... the language ‘without prejudice’ would not affect the finality of the order.” Philip J. Padovano, Florida Appellate Practice § 21.2 (2d ed.1997); see also Silvers v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 763 So. 2d 1086, 1086-1087 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999)(case against one defendant was dismissed “without prejudice to plaintiffs refiling a separate suit,” and such an order is a final, appealable order); Martinez v. Collier County Pub. Sck, 804 So. 2d 559, 560 (Fla. 1st DCA 2002)(“Dismissal without prejudice is final if its effect is to bring an end to judicial labor.”).

In the case at bar, the dismissal of Delgado’s cause ended the judicial labor as to her case and required her to file a new action to re-initiate proceedings. However, Delgado would have been unable to do so because the four-year statute of limitations for negligence had run. See § 95.11(3)(a), Fla. Stat. As such, it is apparent that the words “without prejudice” did not prevent the February 13 order from being a final, appealable order. See Walden v. Adekola, 773 So. 2d 1218, 1219 (Fla. 3d DCA 2000)(“However, as plaintiff points out, the statute of limitations has expired so that the dismissal is, as a practical matter, with prejudice.”). Because Delgado did not appeal the February 13 order within thirty days, this court is without jurisdiction. See Fla. R.App. P. 9.110(b). Consequently, this appeal is dismissed as to Delgado’s first issue on appeal.

Additionally, the appeal is dismissed as to Delgado’s second issue regarding the alleged use of a proposed order by the trial court, as the issue addresses the preparation of court orders involving discovery violations and sanctions, the subject matter of the February 13 order that was not timely appealed.

We affirm on Delgado’s third issue addressing the trial court’s grant of attorney’s fees to J. Byrons based on a proposal for settlement without further discussion.

DISMISSED IN PART; AFFIRMED IN PART.

GUNTHER, STEVENSON and HAZOURI, JJ., concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • Hinote v. Ford Motor Co., 958 So. 2d 1009 (Fla. 1st DCA 2007)
    …without prejudice to bring another action may be determined by examining the context of the order. Id. The order of dismissal is clearly final when, for instance, the claim could only be pursued by filing a new complaint, Delgado v. J. Byrons, Inc., 877 So. 2d 822 (Fla. 4th DCA [*1011] 2004); or where there was a failure to serve the defendant, Carlton; or failure to exhaust administrative remedies, Hollingsworth v. Brown, 788 So. 2d 1078 (Fla. 1st DCA 2001). In these cases the context of the order provides t…
  • Valcarcel v. Chase Bank USA NA, 54 So. 3d 989 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010)
    …0 (Fla. 3d DCA 1997). “The order of dismissal is clearly final when, for instance, the claim could only be pursued by filing a new complaint....” Hinote v. Ford Motor Co., 958 So. 2d 1009, 1010 (Fla. 1st DCA 2007) (citing Delgado v. J. Byrons, Inc., 877 So. 2d 822 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004)). Chase has not cited any case which holds otherwise. Therefore, Chase’s argument that the order was not final is totally without merit and this court has jurisdiction. We next address the issue of attorney’s fees. “Generally, a…
  • Deutsche Bank Nat'l Tr. Co. v. Quinion, 198 So. 3d 701 (Fla. 2d DCA 2016)
    …r this appeal. See Hinote v. Ford Motor Co., 958 So. 2d 1009, 1010 (Fla. 1st DCA 2007) (“The order of dismissal is clearly final when, for instance, the claim could only be pursued by filing a new complaint .... ” (citing Delgado v. J. Byrons, Inc., 877 So. 2d 822. (Fla. 4th DCA 2004))). We review a court’s dismissal of a complaint de novo. Williams v. Gaffin Indus. Servs., Inc., 88 So. 3d 1027, 1029 (Fla. 2d DCA 2012); Mortg. Elec. Regis- [*703] trntion Sys., Inc. v. Azize, 965 So. 2d 151, 153 (Fla. 2d-DCA 2…

Previewing 3 of 10 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw