Some Florida trial court orders are final and appealable. Some orders are nonfinal but appealable on an interlocutory basis. Some orders are nonfinal and nonappealable; they cannot be reviewed except perhaps in an original proceeding via a petition for a writ such as a writ of certiorari. When considering an appeal, it is important to know which category the order
A party seeking or opposing issuance of a writ in an original proceeding under Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.100 may have statutory or contractual grounds for seeking an award of attorney’s fees, but there are some potential procedural pitfalls as to the method and timing of requesting the award. METHOD The correct method of seeking attorney’s fees in original
The Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure provide for appellate review of certain kinds of lower tribunal orders “by motion” or “on motion.” The party seeking review of such orders does not initiate a new appeal because the motion and appendix are filed on the docket of an existing appeal that is pending or was recently concluded. Some of those situations
Appellate courts can, “affirm a decision from a lower tribunal that reaches the right result for the wrong reasons so long as there is any basis which would support the judgment in the record.” State Farm Fire & Cas. Co. v. Levine, 837 So. 2d 363, 365 (Fla. 2002) (citation and internal quotes omitted). This “tipsy coachman” doctrine reflects the
In addition to deciding cases, the Florida Supreme Court has the responsibility of adopting procedural rules for court proceedings; but the Court does not directly promulgate rules of evidence. The Legislature has enacted the Florida Evidence Code in chapter 90 of the Florida Statutes, and the Supreme Court usually adopts the legislative amendments to the extent they are procedural. The
As a busy trial lawyer, your daily battles in the trenches probably don’t leave you much time to think about the appellate process. But it’s important to remember that you can only appeal errors committed by the trial court. Preservation of error simply means that you give the trial court an opportunity to correct mistakes as they occur. This article
Imagine that you are an elderly patient being admitted to a nursing home. Your son signs the admission contract. You don’t see the contract, much less sign it. Unbeknownst to you, the contract contains an arbitration clause. Now imagine that you develop an eye infection while in the nursing home, and your eye has to be removed. Can you sue
Four types of error are often discussed in appeals. The appellant argues that the lower court’s errors are reversible. Sometimes appellants also assert that errors are fundamental, as we explained in Vol. 4 No. 4 (“The Fundamental Error Exception to the Preservation-of- Error Rule”). Conversely, the appellee wants the order or judgment to be affirmed and usually argues that there
A reply brief is optional in appeals in Florida courts. However, a reply brief provides the appellant an important opportunity to refute the appellee’s answer brief and get the last word in the written argument. Some appellate judges deem the reply brief informative enough to read it first, before reviewing the appellant’s initial brief and the appellee’s answer brief. The
One of the oddities of trial practice in a county overseen by the Fourth District is the requirement that the attorney be sufficiently prescient to raise issues at trial or summary judgment that do not yet exist. This seemingly impossible feat appears to be required by the Fourth District case of Trinchitella v. D.R.F., Inc., 584 So.2d 35 (Fla. 4th
Some Florida trial court orders are final and appealable. Some orders are nonfinal but appealable on an interlocutory basis. Some orders are nonfinal and nonappealable; they cannot be reviewed except perhaps in an original proceeding via a petition for a writ such as a writ of certiorari. When considering an appeal, it is important to know which category the order
A party seeking or opposing issuance of a writ in an original proceeding under Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.100 may have statutory or contractual grounds for seeking an award of attorney’s fees, but there are some potential procedural pitfalls as to the method and timing of requesting the award. METHOD The correct method of seeking attorney’s fees in original
The Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure provide for appellate review of certain kinds of lower tribunal orders “by motion” or “on motion.” The party seeking review of such orders does not initiate a new appeal because the motion and appendix are filed on the docket of an existing appeal that is pending or was recently concluded. Some of those situations
Appellate courts can, “affirm a decision from a lower tribunal that reaches the right result for the wrong reasons so long as there is any basis which would support the judgment in the record.” State Farm Fire & Cas. Co. v. Levine, 837 So. 2d 363, 365 (Fla. 2002) (citation and internal quotes omitted). This “tipsy coachman” doctrine reflects the
In addition to deciding cases, the Florida Supreme Court has the responsibility of adopting procedural rules for court proceedings; but the Court does not directly promulgate rules of evidence. The Legislature has enacted the Florida Evidence Code in chapter 90 of the Florida Statutes, and the Supreme Court usually adopts the legislative amendments to the extent they are procedural. The
As a busy trial lawyer, your daily battles in the trenches probably don’t leave you much time to think about the appellate process. But it’s important to remember that you can only appeal errors committed by the trial court. Preservation of error simply means that you give the trial court an opportunity to correct mistakes as they occur. This article
Imagine that you are an elderly patient being admitted to a nursing home. Your son signs the admission contract. You don’t see the contract, much less sign it. Unbeknownst to you, the contract contains an arbitration clause. Now imagine that you develop an eye infection while in the nursing home, and your eye has to be removed. Can you sue
Four types of error are often discussed in appeals. The appellant argues that the lower court’s errors are reversible. Sometimes appellants also assert that errors are fundamental, as we explained in Vol. 4 No. 4 (“The Fundamental Error Exception to the Preservation-of- Error Rule”). Conversely, the appellee wants the order or judgment to be affirmed and usually argues that there
A reply brief is optional in appeals in Florida courts. However, a reply brief provides the appellant an important opportunity to refute the appellee’s answer brief and get the last word in the written argument. Some appellate judges deem the reply brief informative enough to read it first, before reviewing the appellant’s initial brief and the appellee’s answer brief. The
One of the oddities of trial practice in a county overseen by the Fourth District is the requirement that the attorney be sufficiently prescient to raise issues at trial or summary judgment that do not yet exist. This seemingly impossible feat appears to be required by the Fourth District case of Trinchitella v. D.R.F., Inc., 584 So.2d 35 (Fla. 4th
