ANGELO NAPOLITANO AND HELEN NAPOLITANO, APPELLANTS,
v.
H. L. ROBERTSON AND ASSOCIATES, INC., AND CROCKETT-BRADLEY, INC., APPELLEES
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Florida appellate court reversed trial court's denial of jury trial, holding that appellants' compulsory counterclaim for breach of contract entitled them to jury trial as a matter of right, and the interrelated issues required jury trial on all claims.
A defendant's compulsory counterclaim for breach of contract entitles the defendant to a jury trial as a matter of right, and when the counterclaim issues are related to equitable claims, jury trial must be afforded on all issues.
[1] A compulsory counterclaim for breach of contract in an action also seeking equitable relief entitles the counterclaimant to a jury trial on all interrelated issues.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAppellees sued for breach of a construction contract and foreclosure of an equitable lien. Appellants answered with affirmative defenses and countercl…
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PER CURIAM.
The appellees brought a two-pronged action seeking damages for breach of a construction contract and/or foreclosure of an equitable lien and other equitable relief. The appellants answered asserting certain affirmative defenses, and counterclaimed seeking damages for breach of the same contract. The appellants requested a jury trial on all the issues. The appellees moved to strike the demand for jury trial, on the ground that the appellants were not entitled as a matter of right to a jury trial in an equitable lien foreclosure. After hearing on the motion, the trial court entered the order appealed herein.
We reverse. The trial court erred in entering the order under review and, in so doing, the appellants were deprived of their constitutional right to a jury trial. The compulsory counterclaim was an action at law, entitling the appellants to a jury trial as a matter of right, and the issues involved in the counterclaim were so related to the issues made by the damage and equitable claims that a jury trial should be afforded on all issues. Hightower v. Bigoney, Fla.1963, 156 So. 2d 501; Adams v. Citizens Bank of Brevard, Fla.App.1971, 248 So. 2d 682; Westview Community Cemetery of Pompano Beach v. Lewis, Fla.App.1974, 293 So. 2d 373.
Reversed and remanded, with directions to grant to the appellants a jury trial as requested.
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Cited By (11 total)
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Padgett v. First Fed. Sav. & Loan Ass'n OF Santa Rosa Cnty., 378 So. 2d 58 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979)…Gerson, 187 So. 2d 63 (Fla. 3rd DCA 1966); Sarasota-Manatee Airport Authority v. Alderman, 238 So. 2d 678 (Fla. 2nd DCA 1970); Adams v. Citizens Bank of Brevard, 248 So. 2d 682 (Fla. 4th DCA 1971); Napolitano v. H. L. Robertson and Associates, Inc., 311 So. 2d 757 (Fla. 3rd DCA 1975); Wincast Associates, Inc. v. Hickey, 342 So. 2d 77 (Fla.1977). The particular facts of each case must be examined to determine the order in which the legal and equitable issues must be tried. In Southwestern Life Insurance Compa…1 / 2
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Cheek v. McGOWAN Elec. Supply Co., 404 So. 2d 834 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981)…by an equitable counterclaim are so related to the issues triable by a jury as a matter of constitutional right of trial, that they are intertwined, a trial by jury should be afforded on all the issues. Napolitano v. Robertson and Associates, Inc., 311 So. 2d 757 (Fla. 3rd DCA 1975); Adams v. Citizens Bank of Brevard, 248 So. 2d 682 (Fla. 4th DCA 1971). There remains the question of whether the defendant waived his right to a jury trial by his failure to record an objection when the trial court announced hi…
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Sundale Assocs., Ltd. v. Se. Bank, N.A., 471 So. 2d 100 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985)…ired light most favorable to Sun-dale, the record contains ample evidence of Southeast’s liability in the respects claimed. See Adams v. Citizens Bank of Brevard, 248 So. 2d 682 (Fla. 4th DCA 1971); Napolitano v. H.L. Robertson and Associates, Inc., 311 So. 2d 757 (Fla. 3d DCA 1975). (b) We are however persuaded that a new trial on this aspect of the counterclaim is required because of the erroneous admission of a letter written by Martinez, who was the president of the general contractor on the job, Marbilt…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Hightower v. Bigoney, 156 So. 2d 501 (Fla. 1963)
- Adams v. Citizens Bank OF Brevard, 248 So. 2d 682 (Fla. 4th DCA 1971)
- Westview Cmty. Cemetery OF Pompano Beach v. Booker T. Lewis, 293 So. 2d 373 (Fla. 4th DCA 1974)