ALMACENES EL GLOBO DE QUITO, S. A., APPELLANT,
v.
DALBETA L.C., APPELLEE
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Almacenes El Globo seeks review of a trial court judgment canceling a promissory note executed by Dalbeta. The appellate court dismisses the appeal as premature because Dalbeta's counterclaim and third-party claim, which arise from the same facts as the note dispute, remain pending and undecided.
The judgment is not a final or appealable partial final judgment because Dalbeta's counterclaim and third-party claim, which are based on the same set of facts as the adjudicated promissory note claim, remain undecided. A partial final judgment is only reviewable when the claims adjudicated are separate and independent from remaining claims; here, all claims are interdependent and factually intertwined.
[1] A partial final judgment resolving some but not all interdependent claims in a multi-count action is not appealable under Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.110(k) and…
[2] Certiorari relief is available to review and quash portions of a judgment that authorize execution, discovery in aid of execution, or garnishment prior to the entry of a…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“For the purposes of appellate review, an order of the circuit court is "final" if it ends all judicial labor in the case.”
Establishes the controlling test for finality of orders on appeal
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceIn September 1996, Dalbeta executed a $215,000 promissory note to Almacenes El Globo with 30-year repayment terms. Dalbeta made 158 payments through A…
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Appellant, plaintiff/counter-defendant below, Amacenes El Globo De Quito, S.A. (“Appellant”), seeks review of a purported final judgment that cancelled and satisfied a promissory note executed by Appellee, defendani/counter-plaintiffithird-party plaintiff below, Dalbeta, L.C. (“Appellee”). We dismiss this premature appeal because issues and facts related to Appellee’s pending counterclaim and third-party claim are intertwined with the claims and defenses raised in this appeal. ,
I. Facts
On September 9, 1996, Appellee exécut-ed a promissory note payable'to Appellant. The principal amount of the note "was $215,000, with interest to accrue at the rate of ten percent. According to the terms of the note, Appellee was required to make monthly $1,886.78 principal and interest payments to Appellant for thirty years (from October 9, 1996, through September 9,2026).
The record reflects that Appellee made 158 installment payments under the promissory note through August of 2012. The Appellee made some of these payments to Appellant; the Appellee made many more of the . payments-, directly to Appellant’s principal shareholder, Antonio Dalmau (who was also a shareholder in' Appellee); and, after Dalmau’s death in 2005, Appel-lee made payments directly to Dalmau’s heirs. Then, starting in January of 2008, Appellee made thirty-six payments - to itself. ■
The record reflects that, approximately seven years after Dalmau’s death, Dal-mau’s son, who was by then the president of Appellant, allegedly discovered the September 1996 promissory note and, in May of 2012, caused Appellant to file the instant lawsuit against Appellee. Appellant’s complaint Seeks damages for unpaid' installment payments allegedly due on the promissory note through the date of filing of Appellant’s complaint.1
Appellee answered Appellant’s lawsuit, raising several affirmative defenses. Ap-pellee also filed a counterclaim against Appellant and a third-party complaint against Dalmau’s heirs. In these pleadings, Ap-pellee asserts, among other things, that the promissory note did not memorialize a loan to Appellee. Rather, Dalmau’s pay*561ment of $215,000 to Appellee was. an investment in the business of Appellee.
Appellee’s affirmative defenses reference, and purport to incorporate, allegations in Appellee’s counterclaim and third-party claim. For example, the counterclaim alleges that the note is a nullity and seeks a declaration cancelling and voiding the note. The third-party claim alleges that Dalmau’s heirs breached certain duties owed to Appellee; that those heirs would be unjustly enriched if Appellant recovered under the note; and that Appel-lee is entitled to equitable subrogation for amounts the heirs received from Appellee’s prior payments on the note.
Notwithstanding the evident intertwining of Appellee’s counterclaim and third-party claim with Appellee’s defenses to Appellant’s action to recover under the promissory note, the trial court severed Appellant’s action from Appellee’s counterclaim and third-party claim. On July 10, 2014, the trial court held a bench trial, ostensibly and solely on Appellant’s promissory note claim. Appellee’s counterclaim and third-party claim remain subject to adjudication.
On November 17, 2014, the trial court entered a purported “Final Judgment” which, while not entirely clear, purports to decree, among other things, that (i) Appellant never made á loan to Appellee, (ii) Appellee was entitled to an offset against any amounts due on the promissory note, and (iii) the note is “SATISFIED AND CANCELLED.”
Appellant brings this appeal of the trial court’s. November 17, 2014 order which carries the caption, “Final Judgment.”
IL Analysis
While- neither party challenged the jurisdiction- of ‘this Court to hear the instant appeal, or the “finality” of the trial court’s November 17, 2014 order, we have an independent duty to determine whether we have appellate jurisdiction. Bloomgarden v. Mandel, 154 So.3d 451, 453 (Fla. 3d DCA 2014).
Florida’s district courts of appeal have appellate jurisdiction to review final orders of'the circuit courts,2 and certain specifically identified non-final orders of the circuit courts expressly prescribed in rule 9.130.3 The parties agree and we conclüde, that the order on appeal is not subject to appellate review as a non-final order pursuant to rule 9.130. Our jurisdictional analysis is therefore confined to whether the order on appeal is a “final” order,’ as contemplated in rule 9.030(b)(1)(A) (and in rule 9.110, which de-, lineates the appellate process invoked pursuant to rule 9.030(b)(1)(A)).
For the purposes of appellate' review, an order of the circuit court is “final” if it ends all.judicial labor in the case. Miami-Dade Water, and Sewer Auth. v. Metro. Dade Cty., 469 So.2d 813 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985).
Rule 9.110(k)4 allows for appellate review of final orders that can be charácter-*562ized as “partial final judgments.” Regardless of how the order on appeal in this ease was captioned by the trial court or characterized by the parties, we conclude that the order on appeal is not a “partial final judgment” under rule 9.110(k).5
There are claims remaining in the case that are yet to be adjudicated (for instance, Appellee’s counterclaim against Appellant and Appellee’s third-party claim against Dalmau’s heirs). These outstanding claims are based upon the same set of facts as those adjudicated within the order on appeal.
Rule 9.110(k) provides for appellate jurisdiction to hear a partial final judgment only when the claims adjudicated by that order are separate and independent from the portion of the case still to be adjudicated. Jensen v. Whetstine, 985 So.2d 1218, 1220 (Fla. 1st DCA 2008); see also Cicco v. Luckett Tobaccos, Inc., 934 So.2d 560, 561 (Fla. 3d DCA 2006). If all claims arise from the same set of facts, an order resolving fewer than all of the counts is not appealable under Rule 9.110(k). GEICO Gen. Ins. Co. v. Pruitt, 122 So.3d 484, 487 (Fla. 3d DCA 2013); Flinn v. Flinn, 68 So.3d 424, 425 (Fla. 4th DCA 2011).6
Plainly in this case, Appellant’s claim on the promissory note and Appellee’s defenses thereto, arise from the same set of facts as Appellee’s counterclaim and third-party claim. Therefore, the trial court’s order purportedly adjudicating Appellant’s promissory note claim is not appealable under rule 9.110(k), and there exists no other basis for us to exercise jurisdiction to hear Appellant’s appeal of that order.
Therefore, we dismiss the appeal.
Dismissed.
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Citator
Cited By (21 total)
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Herbits v. The City OF Miami, 197 So. 3d 575 (Fla. 3d DCA 2016)…by Rule O.llOlk).1 Indeed, Rule 9.110(k) allows a party to appeal a “partial final judgment” in a case without affecting the trial court’s jurisdiction to adjudicate the case’s remaining claims. See Almacenes El Globo De Quito, S.A v. Dalbeta L.C., 181 So. 3d 559 (Fla. 3d DCA 2015). For a final order to be appealable as a “partial final judgment” under Rule 9.110(k), however, that final order must be entirely independent from other pleaded claims. Jensen v. Whetstine, 985 So. 2d 1218, 1220 (Fla. 1st DCA 2008…
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Shassian v. Riverwalk Park, LLC, 365 So. 3d 484 (Fla. 6th DCA 2023)…y do not contest our jurisdiction in their answer brief. We have an independent duty, however, to determine our jurisdiction. See Medeiros v. Firth, 200 So. 3d 121, 122 (Fla. 5th DCA 2016) (citing Almacenes El Globo De Quito, S.A. v. Dalbeta L.C., 181 So. 3d 559, 560 (Fla. 3d DCA 2015)). We are unbound by the parties’ characterization of a lower court’s order. See id. Parties also cannot stipulate to our jurisdiction when none exists. See Cunningham v. Standard Guar. Ins., 630 So. 2d 179, 181 (Fla. 1994…
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Garrett Medeiros v. Firth, 200 So. 3d 121 (Fla. 5th DCA 2016)…liability.” An appellate court has an independent duty to determine whether it has appellate jurisdiction and is not bound by the trial court’s caption or the parties’ characterization of an order. Almacenes El Globo De Quito, S.A. v. Dalbeta L.C., 181 So. 3d 559, 560 (Fla. 3d DCA 2015). Florida law makes no provision for a “final judgment as to liability.” A final judgment has traditionally been defined as one that “ends the litigation between the parties and disposes of all issues involved such that no fur…
Previewing 3 of 21 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Colon v. Nationwide Life Ins. Co., 985 So. 2d 1218 (Fla. 2d DCA 2008)
- Miami-Dade Water & Sewer Auth. v. Metro. Dade Cnty. & City of Miami, 469 So. 2d 813 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985)
- Rob-Cor, Inc. v. Ines, 512 So. 2d 320 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987)
- Cicco v. Luckett Tobaccos, Inc., 934 So. 2d 560 (Fla. 3d DCA 2006)
- GEICO Gen. Ins. Co. v. Pruitt, 122 So. 3d 484 (Fla. 3d DCA 2013)
- Bloomgarden v. Mandel, 154 So. 3d 451 (Fla. 3d DCA 2014)
- Flinn v. Flinn, 68 So. 3d 424 (Fla. 4th DCA 2011)
- Hyland v. State, 154 So. 3d 451 (Fla. 3d DCA 2014)