ROBERT VAN SICKLER, APPELLANT,
v.
ORTHELLO WHITE AND THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF CLEARWATER, CLEARWATER, FLORIDA, AS EXECUTORS OF THE ESTATE OF JOSEPH M. WHITE, DECEASED, APPELLEES
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This case involves a patent attorney suing the executors of an estate for an accounting based on a contract for services. The court affirmed the dismissal of the equity suit and transfer to the law side, finding that a legal remedy was adequate.
No, the trial court did not err. The plaintiff's remedy at law is full, adequate, and expeditious, and the chancellor did not abuse discretion in transferring the cause.
“It is well settled that equity will not function when there is an adequate legal remedy and that in borderline cases, such as the one before us, the chancellor has broad discretion in determining the proper forum.”
Establishes the legal principle guiding the court's decision on forum selection.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceA patent attorney entered into an agreement with a decedent to provide legal services related to a patent in exchange for twenty percent of the royalt…
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Appellant-plaintiff brings an interlocutory appeal from an order dismissing his amended complaint without prejudice and transferring the cause from the equity to the law side of the docket.
Plaintiff, a patent attorney, entered into an agreement with decedent, Joseph M. White, to perform legal services necessary for the protection of decedent’s patent against infringement and to perform services in connection with all matters affecting the patent. As payment for these services, plaintiff was to receive twenty per cent of the royalties received by the decedent. This agreement was entered into in April of 19S6, and was alleged to have been in force at the time of the death of said Joseph M. White on April 29, 1964. Subsequent to his death, defendant-appellees were appointed executors of the decedent’s estate, and this cause of action was brought by the plaintiff against the executors for an accounting in equity. Upon defendants’ motion, plaintiff’s suit was dismissed without prejudice and transferred to the law side of the-docket.
It is well settled that equity will' not function when there is an adequate legal' remedy and that in borderline cases, such as the one before us, the chancellor has-broad discretion in determining the proper forum. Ponce v. Demos, 159 Fla. 117, 31 So.2d 58 (1947). In the instant case, plaintiff’s remedy at law is full, adequate- and expeditious. The chancellor did not abuse his discretion in transferring the cause, and his ruling is therefore affirmed..
ALLEN, C. J., and LILES and PIERCE, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Ponce v. Demos, 159 Fla. 117 (Fla. 1947)
- H. A. Knowlton and his wife v. Loraine M. Dean, 159 Fla. 98 (Fla. 1947)