LINCE
v.
PELICAN CIRCLE ASSOCIATION, INC.
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Summary final judgments and orders disposing of specific counts on their merits are appealable, but orders granting motions for summary judgment without entering final judgment and orders not disposing of separate and distinct causes of action are not appealable.
[1] An order that merely grants a motion for summary judgment without also entering judgment is not a final order appealable as of right under Florida law.
[2] A partial final judgment that does not dispose of an entire case or a separate and distinct cause of action that is independent from other pleaded claims is not appealabl…
Previewing 2 of 2 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“The traditional test for finality is whether the decree disposes of the cause on its merits leaving no questions open for judicial determination except for execution and enforcement of the decree if necessary.”
Court citing Hoffman v. Hall, 817 So. 2d 1057, 1058 (Fla. 1st DCA 2002) to establish the standard for determining whether an order is final.
James G. Lince appealed twelve orders and judgments from the trial court concerning his third and fourth amended complaints against Pelican Circle Ass…
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FIRST DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL
STATE OF FLORIDA
_____________________________
No. 1D2023-3091 _____________________________
JAMES G. LINCE,
Appellant,
v.
PELICAN CIRCLE ASSOCIATION, INC., et al.,
Appellees.
_____________________________
On appeal from the Circuit Court for Walton County. David W. Green, Judge.
October 8, 2025
PER CURIAM.
James G. Lince appeals twelve orders and judgments entered by the trial court on his third and fourth amended complaints. We affirm without comment the trial court’s summary final judgment for defendant Charles Harmon entered on November 1, 2023. We similarly affirm the trial court’s amended order of November 16, 2023, granting judgment for defendants Frank Watson and Watson Swell on count XXIV of the fourth amended complaint and denying Lince’s cross-motion for summary judgment.
2
We dismiss the appeal as to the remaining orders because they are not final orders nor are they nonfinal orders appealable under Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.130. See Fla. R. App. P. 9.130(a)(3) (listing the types of appealable nonfinal orders); Hoffman v. Hall, 817 So. 2d 1057, 1058 (Fla. 1st DCA 2002) (“The traditional test for finality is whether the decree disposes of the cause on its merits leaving no questions open for judicial determination except for execution and enforcement of the decree if necessary.”); Cardiothoracic & Vascular Surgery, P.A. v. W. Fla. Reg’l Med. Ctr., 993 So. 2d 1060, 1061 (Fla. 1st DCA 2008) (holding that an order that merely grants a motion for summary judgment, without also entering judgment, is not final). They are also not appealable as partial final judgments. Fla. R. App. P. 9.110(k) (explaining that “[a] partial final judgment, other than one that disposes of an entire case as to any party, is one that disposes of a separate and distinct cause of action that is not interdependent with other pleaded claims”).
AFFIRMED, in part, DISMISSED, in part. LEWIS, ROWE, and WINOKUR, JJ., concur.
_____________________________
Not final until disposition of any timely and authorized motion under Fla. R. App. P. 9.330 or 9.331. _____________________________
Kristin Matthews and Todd R. Bartos of The Bartos Group, LLC, Tallahassee, for Appellant.
Darryl Steve Traylor, Jr. and T.A. Borowski, Jr., Borowski & Traylor, P.A., Pensacola; and Therese A. Savona of Cole, Scott & Kissane, P.A., Orlando, for Appellees.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Hoffman v. Hall, 817 So. 2d 1057 (Fla. 1st DCA 2002)
- Cardiothoracic & Vascular Surgery, P.A. v. W. Fla. Reg'l Med. Ctr., 993 So. 2d 1060 (Fla. 1st DCA 2008)