RAYMOND STAINES, AS PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ESTATE OF NORA STAINES, APPELLANT,
v.
R.J. REYNOLDS TOBACCO COMPANY, PHILIP MORRIS USA INC., LORILLARD TOBACCO COMPANY, AND LORILLARD, INC., APPELLEES.
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Raymond Staines appealed the trial court's dismissal of a personal injury lawsuit originally filed on behalf of his deceased mother, Nora Staines, whom the court learned had died before the complaint was filed. The court affirmed the dismissal, holding that deceased persons cannot be parties to lawsuits and that counsel lacked authority to file or maintain the action after the client's death.
The court affirmed the dismissal, holding that deceased persons cannot be parties to judicial proceedings, that counsel had no authority to file or maintain a personal injury case after the client's death, and that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying the motion to amend given the eight-year delay in moving to correct the allegations.
[1] A deceased person cannot be a party to a judicial proceeding.
[2] An attorney's authority to act on behalf of a client is extinguished upon the client's death.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“deceased persons cannot be parties to a judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding”
Establishes the fundamental legal principle underlying the dismissal, cited from Xtra Super Food Ctr. v. Carmona.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceNora Staines died in October 2007, but her attorneys filed a personal injury complaint on her behalf without knowing of her death. Eight years later, …
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This is a companion case to In re 73 Engle-Related Cases , 1D-16-2651, 239 So.3d 166, 2018 WL 771176 (Fla. 1st DCA 2018), involving an Engle , personal injury lawsuit filed on behalf of Ms. Nora Staines, who was already deceased when her case was filed. Unbeknownst to her attorneys, Ms. Staines died a couple of months prior to her complaint being filed. Then eight years later, sometime after her attorneys discovered that she had died and the tobacco company defendants had moved to dismiss, counsel sought leave to amend the complaint, substitute Mr. Raymond Staines (the personal representative of Ms. Staines' estate) as the plaintiff, and convert the case into a survival or wrongful death action. The trial court denied plaintiff's motion and dismissed the case with prejudice, along with seventy-three other Engle actions filed on behalf of dead persons that are described in In re 73 Engle-Related Cases . Mr. Staines then appealed on behalf of Ms. Staines' estate.
We affirm for the same basic reasons detailed in our opinion in In re 73 Engle-Related Cases . Shortly stated, we find no legal error in the trial court's decision to dismiss the lawsuit filed by counsel on behalf of Ms. Staines because "deceased persons cannot be parties to a judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding." Xtra Super Food Ctr. v. Carmona , 516 So.2d 300, 301 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987). Plaintiff's counsel had no authority after Ms. Staines' death to file and maintain a personal injury case in her name. Rogers v. Concrete Scis., Inc. , 394 So.2d 212, 213 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981) (noting that "[t]he death of [the] client terminates the relationship between the attorney and client and the attorney's authority to act by virtue thereof is extinguished"). BEC Constr. Corp. v. Gonzalez , 383 So.2d 1093, 1094 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980) (same). And thus, the complaint filed in this case did not confer jurisdiction on the trial court, nor does it provide a basis upon which an amended complaint can now relate back. See BEC Constr. , 383 So.2d at 1094 ("No proper claim ever having been filed, ...
*166[the court] had no jurisdiction."); DeArmas v. Blonstein , 356 So.2d 1339, 1340 (Fla. 3d DCA 1978) (affirming the dismissal of a personal injury claim where the plaintiff died before the lawsuit was filed).*
As in In re 73 Engle-Related Cases , we also affirm because the trial court committed no error in denying the 2016 motion to amend the complaint. The record indicates that plaintiff's counsel delayed informing the court of Ms. Staines' October 2007 death by not moving to amend the complaint and correct its allegations until 2016, more than eight years after the case was first filed. Under these circumstances, we cannot conclude that the trial court abused its discretion by denying the motion. See In re Engle Cases , 767 F.3d 1082, 1119-20 (11th Cir. 2014) (finding no right to amend because of "years of unjustifiable delay and obfuscation").
AFFIRMED.
Roberts, Osterhaus, and M.K. Thomas, JJ., concur.
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Cited By
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Friedel v. Edwards, 327 So. 3d 1242 (Fla. 2d DCA 2021)
Authorities Cited
- Howard A. Engle, M.D. v. Liggett Grp., Inc., 945 So. 2d 1246 (Fla. 2006)
- In re Engle Cases 4432 Individual Tobacco v. Various Tobacco Cos., 767 F.3d 1082 (11th Cir. 2014)
- BEC Constr. Corp. & Liberty Mut. Ins. Co. v. Luis Gonzalez (Deceased) and Eufelia Gonzalez, 383 So. 2d 1093 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980)
- Rogers v. Concrete Scis., Inc., 394 So. 2d 212 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981)
- Xtra Super Food Ctr. & Travelers Ins. Co. v. Carmona, 516 So. 2d 300 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987)
- Gardenia DeARMAS v. Blonstein, 356 So. 2d 1339 (Fla. 3d DCA 1978)
- In re 73 ENGLE-RELATED CASES., 239 So. 3d 166 (Fla. 1st DCA 2018)