PAUL FLAIG, PETITIONER,
v.
COQUINA PALMS HOMEOWNER'S ASSOCIATION, INC., RESPONDENT
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Paul Flaig sought a writ of certiorari to challenge the trial court's order denying his motion to disqualify opposing counsel. The appellate court held that the trial court erred by cutting short the evidentiary hearing and granting what amounted to a directed verdict before all evidence could be presented, depriving Flaig of a full opportunity to establish disqualification grounds.
The trial court erred in depriving Flaig of a full evidentiary hearing by granting Coquina's request to deny the motion before all evidence was presented. The court departed from the essential requirements of law, causing material injury that cannot be remedied on appeal, making certiorari the appropriate remedy.
[1] Certiorari is the appropriate remedy to review orders denying a motion to disqualify counsel.
[2] A party seeking disqualification of counsel must show that the trial court departed from the essential requirements of law, resulting in material injury that cannot be co…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Certiorari is the appropriate remedy to review orders denying a motion to disqualify counsel. Accordingly, Petitioners had to show that the circuit court departed from the essential requirements of law and that this departure resulted in a material injury that cannot be corrected on postjudgment appeal.”
Establishes the legal standard for certiorari review of disqualification orders
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceFlaig filed a motion to disqualify counsel for Coquina Palms Homeowner's Association. At the evidentiary hearing, Flaig testified and established a pr…
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Paul Flaig seeks a writ of certiorari quashing the trial court’s order denying his motion to disqualify counsel for the respondent, Coquina Palms Homeowner’s Association, Inc. (“Coquina”). At the evi-dentiary hearing on his motion, Flaig’s testimony established a prima facie case for disqualification of counsel for Coquina. However, before any other witnesses were called, counsel for Coquina requested that the trial court deny the motion. Coquina states in its Response that in making this request, it “in essence ... moved for directed verdict or involuntary dismissal.” The trial court granted the motion and entered the order we now review. Both Flaig and Coquina request that, if this court finds that the trial court erred in granting the order under review, we quash the order and remand for a full evidentiary hearing.
We conclude that the trial court erred in depriving Flaig of a full evidentiary hearing and thereby departed from the essential requirements of the law, causing material injury that cannot be remedied on appeal. See Yang Enters., Inc. v. Georgalis, 988 So.2d 1180, 1182-88 (Fla. 1st DCA 2008) (“Certiorari is the appropriate remedy to review orders denying a motion to disqualify counsel. Accordingly, Petitioners had to show that the circuit court departed from the essential requirements of law and that this departure resulted in a material injury that cannot be corrected on postjudgment appeal.” (citing Zarco Supply Co. v. Bonnell, 658 So.2d 151,158 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995))); Harvey E. Morse, P.A. v. Clark, 890 So.2d 496, 497 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004) (same); Anderson Trucking Serv., Inc. v. Gibson, 884 So.2d 1046, 1049 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004) (same). Accordingly, we grant the petition for certiorari, quash the order under review, and remand this ease for a full evidentiary hearing.
Petition for Writ of Certiorari GRANTED; Order QUASHED; and case REMANDED.
SAWAYA, ORFINGER, and LAWSON, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Zarco Supply Co. v. Bonnell, 658 So. 2d 151 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995)
- Harvey E. Morse, P.A. v. Clark, 890 So. 2d 496 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004)
- Anderson Trucking Serv., Inc. v. Gibson, 884 So. 2d 1046 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004)
- Yang Enters., Inc. v. Mavis Georgalis, 988 So. 2d 1180 (Fla. 1st DCA 2008)