CAROL MANAGEMENT CORPORATION, A NEW YORK CORPORATION, APPELLANT,
v.
THE MAXWELL COMPANY, INC., A FLORIDA CORPORATION, APPELLEE

Fla. 3d DCA | 1963-10-15
No. 63-137
Before HORTON, TILLMAN PEARSON, and HENDRY, JJ.
156 So. 2d 773 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (1963) Positive Treatment
Cited by 7 cases

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Synopsis

The appellate court reversed a trial court's judgment that allowed a plaintiff to sue again for a portion of a contract dispute. The court held that the trial court should have resolved all issues in the initial lawsuit to prevent piecemeal litigation.


Holding

Yes, the trial court erred by entering a judgment without prejudice for the tenth purchase order. The court should have resolved all issues in the initial action to avoid piecemeal litigation.


Key Quotes

“We recognize the rule against the splitting of causes of action and that as a general rule the law mandatorily requires that all damages sustained or accruing to one as a result of a single wrongful act must be claimed and recovered in one action or not all.”

This quote establishes the legal principle the court is considering regarding the prohibition against splitting causes of action.

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Facts & Procedural History

The plaintiff sued the defendant for the balance due on multiple purchase orders for furniture and fixtures. The trial court found in favor of the pla…

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Opinion of the Court
HORTON, Judge.

HORTON, Judge.

Appellant, defendant below, seeks review of a final judgment entered in favor of ap-pellee in an action to recover the balance due on a contract for furniture and fixtures delivered to appellant pursuant to ten purchase order agreements.

At the trial, testimony was presented and the court, sitting without a jury, found in favor of appellee as to nine of the ten purchase order agreements. The tenth purchase order covered 300 sets of lamps, each set consisting of two Donald Hansen lamps and one hanging fixture, in the total amount of $19,238.36. In the final judg*774ment it was found that appellee had breached its agreement by substituting different lamps than those described in the purchase order. The judgment went on to provide:

“4. No evidence was presented by either party as to the quantum meruit value of the hanging lamp or as to the sales price of the individual lamps comprising the set of lamps; wherefore, it is
“ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that the Plaintiff, THE MAXWELL COMPANY, INC., a Florida corporation, do have and recover from the Defendant, CAROL MANAGEMENT CORPORATION, a New York corporation, the sum of $37,363.15 plus costs of this action amounting to $36.00, for which let execution issue forthwith; and it is
“FURTHER ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that this judgment be entered without prejudice to the Plaintiff to file any legal action that it may deem advisable regarding the purchase by the Defendant from the Plaintiff of 300 sets of lamps, consisting of 2 Donald Hansen lamps as selected by Tom Lee plus 1 hanging fixture as selected by Tom Lee, billed by the Plaintiff, THE MAXWELL COMPANY, INC., to CAROL MANAGEMENT CORPORATION, in the amount of $18,678.00 plus tax of $560.-36, or a total of $19,238.36.”

Appellant’s only contention is that it was error for the court to enter that portion of the judgment which gave appellee the right to institute new litigation concerning the sets of lamps specified in the tenth purchase order. Appellant argues that the complaint put in issue all of the purchase order agreements and constituted a single cause of action, thus barring appellee by the doctrine of res judicata and the prohibition against splitting of causes of action from relitigating the issue of the lamp sets in a subsequent suit.

We recognize the rule against the splitting of causes of action and that as a general rule the law mandatorily requires that all damages sustained or accruing to one as a result of a single wrongful act must be claimed and recovered in one action or not all.1 However, this issue need not be determined to dispose of this appeal.

An examination of the purchase orders attached to the amended complaint reveals that the merchandise in question was ordered by appellant on divers dates between October 18, 1961, and April 5, 1962. Appel-lee chose to bring one action to recover the full amount allegedly due on all the purchase order agreements, a step contemplated by Rule 1.8(g) of the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, 30 F.S.A.2 Rule A of these rules provides in part:

“SCOPE AND TITLE OF RULES. * * * These rules shall be construed to secure the just, speedy and inexpensive determination of every action.”

We are of the view that the action of the trial court in entering judgment without prejudice to appellee to relitigate the issue of the lamp sets was incompatible *775with the spirit, if not the letter, of the above cited portion of the rules. The trial court should have disposed of all the issues in the cause so as not to create or encourage piecemeal litigation. In the interests of justice and orderly procedure, the judgment is reversed in toto and the cause is remanded for a new trial.

Reversed and remanded for new trial.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • Beck v. Pa. Nat'l Mut. Cas. Ins. Co., 279 So. 2d 377 (Fla. 3d DCA 1973)
    …ing expressed in Terteling v. United States, 334 F. 2d 250, 254-255, 167 Ct.Cl. 331(1964). See also Gaynon v. Sta-tum, 151 Fla. 793, 10 So. 2d 432; Mims v. Reid, Fla.1957, 98 So. 2d 498; Carol Management Corporation v. Maxwell Company, Fla.App.1963, 156 So. 2d 773; 1 Fla.Jur., Actions § 42. The summary judgment against the plaintiffs William G. Owen and Edna M. Owen must be affirmed for a different reason, which is that there was no showing that the insurance policy in question afforded any coverage to the O…
  • Kassner v. The Travelers Indem. Co., 285 So. 2d 686 (Fla. 3d DCA 1973)
    …rty owners. The second action was not brought by them in their individual capacity, but was by and for the separate partnership entity. See Gaynon v. Statum, 151 Fla. 793, 10 So. 2d 432; Carol Management Corporation v. Maxwell Company, Fla.App.1963, 156 So. 2d 773. In those cases the Supreme Court and this court, speaking with reference to splitting of causes of action, stated that as a general rule the law mandatorily requires that all damages sustained or acruing to one as a result of a single wrongful act…
  • Carol Mgmt. Corp. v. The Maxwell Co., 165 So. 2d 176 (Fla. 1964)
    …Certiorari denied without opinion. 156 So. 2d 773.…

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