JAMES R. COURTNEY, APPELLANT,
v.
CATALINA, LTD., ETC., 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.
Courtney appeals the denial of his motion to vacate a dismissal for want of prosecution, arguing he never received proper notice. The court held that posting to an online docket does not satisfy the statutory service requirement, and absent evidence of actual service, the dismissal order was void and must be vacated.
The court held that the trial court abused its discretion in denying the motion to vacate. Posting to an online court docket does not satisfy the service requirements of Florida Rule of Judicial Administration 2.516. Because there was no evidence of proper service and the defendant offered no contrary evidence, the dismissal order was void and must be vacated.
[1] A trial court abuses its discretion by denying a motion to vacate an order of dismissal for want of prosecution when the plaintiff did not receive proper notice of inacti…
[2] Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.420(e) requires that a notice of inactivity be served upon all parties.
Previewing 2 of 5 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“Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.420(e) requires that a notice of inactivity be 'serve[d]' upon all parties.”
Establishes the statutory requirement for proper service of notice of inactivity
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceCourtney filed suit against Catalina, Ltd. on May 15, 2009. On February 11, 2011, the trial court issued a computer-generated Notice of Lack of Prosec…
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 Abuse Of Discretion cases and more on FLexlaw
James R. Courtney appeals an order denying his motion to vacate a final order of dismissal for want of prosecution rendered under Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.420(e). Courtney contended below, *740and continues to maintain here, that his motion should have been granted because it is undisputed in the record that he did not receive either the notice of inactivity or the final order of dismissal. We agree and reverse the order of the trial court.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
On May 15, 2009, James R. Courtney filed this action against Catalina, Ltd. On February 11, 2011, the trial court issued a computer-generated Notice of Lack of Prosecution in compliance with Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.420(e). The notice stated that no activity appeared of record during the preceding ten months, and the case would be dismissed at a hearing scheduled for that purpose on May 20, 2011, unless, not later than five days before the date of hearing, Courtney filed a copy of the docket exhibiting record activity within sixty days of the date of notice, or otherwise showed cause to the court in writing, filed by the same deadline, and appeared at the hearing as well. The court’s notice of service, found at the foot of the Notice of Lack of Prosecution, which also appears to be computer-generated, reads as follows: “cc: Counsel/Parties of Record.” On May 20, 2011, the trial court dismissed the case sua sponte for want of prosecution, with the same notice of service at the foot of the order.
On April 13, 2012, Courtney’s attorney filed a verified motion to vacate the order of dismissal pursuant to Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.540(b)(4), which authorizes a trial court to afford relief to a party when “[a] judgment or decree is void.” Attached to the verified motion was counsel’s affidavit asserting that the notice and order were never served on him or co-counsel. Opposing counsel has not argued to the contrary. The trial court denied the motion on the ground that the availability to counsel of the online docket satisfied the notice requirement.
ANALYSIS
Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.420(e) requires that a notice of inactivity be “serve[d]” upon all parties. Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.420(e). Rule 1.080(a) likewise requires “all orders” issued by a trial court to be “served in conformity with the requirements of Florida Rule of Judicial Administration 2.516.” Florida Rule of Judicial Administration 2.516 delineates the permissible methods of service of pleadings and other documents by parties and court orders. Postings to an online court docket are not encompassed by the rule. See Fla. R. Jud. Admin. 2.516(b).
There is no evidence in the record refuting Courtney’s counsel’s contention that he did not receive service of the notice of inactivity or dismissal order. The failure of a court to properly effect service of a notice of inactivity deprives a plaintiff of the “opportunity to avail [himself] of the sixty-day period provided by rule within which to act.” Boosinger v. Davis, 46 So.3d 152, 154 (Fla. 2d DCA 2010). Counsel for the defendant, Catalina, Ltd., has neither offered evidence nor argued to the contrary either below or here on appeal. We conclude the trial court abused its discretion in refusing to vacate the order of dismissal. Deutsche Bank Nat’l Trust Co. v. Basanta, 88 So.3d 216, 218 (Fla. 3d DCA 2011) (quoting Boosinger, 46 So.3d at 153).
We reverse the order denying the motion to vacate and remand with the direction that the order of dismissal be vacated.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Boatright v. Philip Morris USA Inc., 218 So. 3d 962 (Fla. 2d DCA 2017)…st DCA 2015) (implying that rule 2.516 governs proposals for settlement, but ultimately holding that the absence of a certificate of service did not render a proposal for settlement invalid where it was served by e-mail); Courtney v. Catalina, Ltd., 130 So. 3d 739, 740 (Fla. 3d DCA 2014) (holding that a trial court erred in dismissing a case for lack of prosecution where there was no evidence that plaintiff received a computer-generated notice of inactivity); Milton v. Reyes, 22 So. 3d 624, 624 (Fla. 3d DCA 2…
-
Yoanky DE LA OSA v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., 208 So. 3d 259 (Fla. 3d DCA 2016)…o vacate the circuit court’s January 6, 2016, order. See Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.540(b)(4).”) (citation omitted). As recently as 2014, this court held that “judgment” included final “order” for purposes of Rule 1.540(b)(4). In Courtney v. Catalina, Ltd., 130 So. 3d 739, 740 (Fla. 3d DCA 2014), we reversed a trial court order that failed to grant a motion under rule 1.540(b)(4) to set aside an order of dismissal for lack of prosecution “because it is undisputed in the record that he did not receive either the notic…1 / 2
-
Reyes v. Aqua Life Corp., 209 So. 3d 47 (Fla. 3d DCA 2016)…1064, 1065 (Fla. 3d DCA 1993) (treating an order issued on possession of real property as a final judgment because it was “a final disposition of the whole [*51] merits of the landlord’s cause before the court”), see also Courtney v. Catalina, Ltd., 130 So. 3d 739, 740 (Fla. 3d DCA 2014) (treating Courtney’s motion to vacate a final order dismissing the case for lack of prosecution filed pursuant to rule 1.540(b)(4) as a motion for relief of a void judgment or decree and reversing the trial court’s order deny…
Previewing 3 of 10 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Deutsche Bank Nat'l Tr. Co. v. Basanta, 88 So. 3d 216 (Fla. 3d DCA 2011)
- Boosinger v. John Bertrand Davis, M.D., 46 So. 3d 152 (Fla. 2d DCA 2010)