SHERI HARRIS
v.
GREGORY LAGANA
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An appellant fails to preserve an argument for appeal when the written record does not demonstrate the argument was presented below and no transcript exists to verify oral presentation at the hearing.
[1] An argument is not preserved for appellate review when neither the appellant's written filings nor a hearing transcript demonstrates the argument was presented to the tri…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Even for purely legal issues, though, the lack of a transcript may frustrate review, and require affirmance where the record is otherwise insufficient to demonstrate that the argument advanced on appeal was timely articulated below, i.e., through a written filing.”
Court explaining the standard for preservation of legal arguments when no hearing transcript is available
Sheri Harris appealed a dismissal of her complaint against her former husband Gregory Lagana. The trial court dismissed the case based on an interpret…
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SIXTH DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL
STATE OF FLORIDA
Case No. 6D2025-0548 Lower Tribunal No. 2024-CA-001896
SHERI HARRIS, Appellant,
v.
GREGORY LAGANA, Appellee.
Appeal from the Circuit Court for Collier County. Christine H. Greider, Judge.
March 13, 2026
BROWNLEE, J.
Appellant Sheri Harris appeals a final order dismissing without prejudice her complaint against her former husband, Appellee Gregory Lagana.¹ Appellant argues the lower court erred in reading the parties' marital settlement agreement as designating New Jersey as the exclusive forum for any disputes arising under it. She
asserts the MSA dictates only a choice of the law to be applied and not a choice of mandatory forum. We do not reach the merits of this argument because an inadequate record precludes Appellant from showing it was preserved.
In her briefing, Appellant asserts she raised the issue both in her response to Appellee's motion to dismiss and at the hearing on that motion. Appellant's response, however, does not mention the argument raised on appeal, and we have no transcript of the hearing on Appellee's motion to dismiss.
It is true that where the issue is one of law and the hearing is non-evidentiary, a lack of transcript is not always fatal to the appeal. See, e.g., Creative Hardscapes, LLC v. Prawdzik, 397 So. 3d 163, 168–69 (Fla. 6th DCA 2024). Even for purely legal issues, though, the lack of a transcript may frustrate review, and require affirmance where the record is otherwise insufficient to demonstrate that the argument advanced on appeal was timely articulated below, i.e., through a written filing. See Leff v. Larez, 422 So. 3d 625, 627 (Fla. 3d DCA 2025) ("[The appellant's] Motion to Set Aside the Default does not argue failure to give notice of an application for a default, and we have no transcript to verify if [he] orally raised this issue at the hearing on that motion. So we must affirm.").
Here, there is no filing that demonstrates the argument raised on appeal was presented below.² Further, the lack of transcript prevents us from knowing what arguments were presented at the hearing on Appellee's motion to dismiss, and thus from discerning whether Appellant's argument on appeal was ever presented to the lower court. Accordingly, we must affirm. See Leff, 422 So. 3d at 627.
AFFIRMED.
STARGEL and NARDELLA, JJ., concur.
Lynn R. Emerson, of BusinessLegal, PC, Cape Coral, for Appellant.
D. Keith Wickenden and M. Travis Hayes, of Gunster, Yoakley, & Stewart, P.A., Naples, for Appellee.