Mills' Estate v. Florida Ins. Guaranty Ass'n

• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals
• Writing for the Court: PER CURIAM
• Citation: Mills' Estate v. Florida Ins. Guaranty Ass'n, 378 So.2d 301 (Fla. App. 1979)
• Decision Date: 04 December 1979
• Docket Number: No. 79-384,79-384
• Parties: ESTATE of Henry Lee MILLS, Appellant, v. FLORIDA INSURANCE GUARANTY ASSOCIATION and Stevenson Insurance Associates, Inc., Appellees.

Page 301

378 So.2d 301

ESTATE of Henry Lee MILLS, Appellant, v. FLORIDA INSURANCE GUARANTY ASSOCIATION and Stevenson Insurance Associates, Inc., Appellees.

No. 79-384.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District.

Dec. 4, 1979.

Rehearing Denied Jan. 8, 1980.

McDonald & McDonald and David McDonald, Miami, for appellant.

Gerald M. Walsh & Associates and Mark R. Boyd, Fort Lauderdale, for appellees.

Before PEARSON, HUBBART and NESBITT, JJ.

PER CURIAM.

The plaintiff estate appeals an order dismissing its complaint for failure to prosecute entered pursuant to Fla.R.Civ.P. 1.420(e). We reverse upon a holding that a prior order of the court misled the plaintiff to believe that further proceedings in the instant cause were not necessary until the determination of a prior cause. Cf. Kuhlman v. Travelers Indemnity Company, 344 So.2d 941 (Fla.3d DCA 1977).

The court first noticed this cause for dismissal pursuant to Rule 1.420(e) in October of 1977. After hearing on December 7, 1977, the trial judge denied the motion to dismiss upon the basis that the action being one for contribution need not be progressed until the final determination of the cause out of which the claim for contribution arose. During the succeeding 12 months, the cause was transferred to a successor judge. Also during this period, a final judgment was entered in the basic case. Thereafter, on December 12, 1978, the successor judge noticed the cause for...