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Appellate Law

The Florida Appellate Blog

Covers the Florida state appellate courts and the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
By Lonn Weissblum

Post Frequency: 0.4/day

Last Entry: February 11, 2009 at 15:05:45

An Issue of Great Public Importance or Not?

Posted on December 23, 2008
Under Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.030(b)(4), the District Courts of Appeal have discretionary review powers of final and non-final orders of the County Court that are otherwise appealable to the Circuit Court when the County Court certifies an issue...

Orders Awarding Temporary Attorney's Fees in a Divorce

Posted on December 17, 2008
Orders awarding temporary attorney's fees in a divorce matter are required to contain certain findings. As the Second DCA explained in Heysek v. Heysek, No. 2D08-1758 (Fla. 2d DCA Dec. 17, 2008), such orders must contain factual findings regarding the...

Orders Awarding Temporary Attorney's Fees in a Divorce

Parents Do Not Have Authority to Execute a Pre-Injury Release

Posted on December 15, 2008
In Kirton v. Fields, Nos. 07-1739, 07-1741, 07-1742 (Fla. Dec. 11, 2008), the Florida Supreme Court held that a parent does not have the authority to execute a pre-injury release on behalf of a minor child when the release involves...

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Good Advice From the Appellate Court: Cite to the Record

Posted on December 10, 2008
Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.210(b)(3) requires the statement of case and facts section of an appellate brief to contain, among other things, references to the appropriate volume and pages of the record or transcript. Here is what Judge Warner...

The Graves Amendment and the Dangerous Instrumentality Rule

Posted on December 08, 2008
In Karling v. Budget Rent A Car System, Inc., No. 5D08-310 (Fla. 5th DCA Dec. 5, 2008), the plaintiff below appealed from an order granting summary judgment based upon the finding that the vicarious liability of short-term motor vehicle lessors...

5th DCA JNC to Governor: No Changes to Nominees

Posted on December 06, 2008
The battle between the 5th DCAJudicial Nominating Commission ("JNC") and Governor Crist is heating up. In response to the Governor's request that the JNC certify a new list of nominees for a vacancy on the 5th DCA, the JNC advised...

Non-Competes and Ex Parte Temporary Injunctions

Posted on December 03, 2008
Although Section 542.335, Florida Statutes, allows courts to enforce valid non-compete agreements by any appropriate remedy, including a temporary injunction, ex parte temporary injunctions must satisfy the requirements set forth in Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1...

Governor Rejects List of 5th DCA Nominees

Posted on December 02, 2008
According to an article in The Florida Times-Union, Governor Crist rejected a list of six proposed nominees to the Fifth District Court of Appeal due to a lack of racial diversity.

Issue Framing for Appellate Lawyers in Florida and Beyond

Posted on December 01, 2008
Whether you're an appellate attorney in Florida or elsewhere, meaningful and effective framing of the issues in an appellate brief is an important skill. Over the weekend, Louisiana appellate attorney Ray Ward authored a very interesting post on the (new)...

Nonverbal Behavior and Peremptory Challenges

Posted on December 01, 2008
In Brown v. State, No. 3D07-2534 (Fla. 3d DCA Nov. 26, 2008), the defendant appealed from his convictions for armed robbery and armed carjacking, claiming that the trial court erroneously allowed a peremptory challenge by the State based on nonverbal...

Section 61.16 Attorney's Fees for Bankruptcy Services

Posted on November 26, 2008
In Hirschenson v. Hirschenson, No. 4D08-41 (Fla. 4th DCA Nov. 26, 2008), the former wife argued that the trial court erred in holding it had no authority under Section 61.16, Florida Statutes (2007), to award attorney's fees for services rendered...

Giving Thanks for Confessions of Error

Posted on November 26, 2008
In its pre-Thanksgiving release of opinions, the Fourth DCA issued an opinion in a civil case where the appellees confessed error. Confessions of error do not happen very often. When these situations do arise, however, appellate attorneys are wise to...

Child Custody Modification and Venue

Posted on November 24, 2008
In Vitale v. Vitale, No. 4D08-145 (Fla. 4th DCA Nov. 19, 2008), the mother appealed from an order transferring a child custody modification proceeding from Broward County to Collier County. The parties' marriage was dissolved in Broward County, and they...

Florida Retirement Commission Appeals: In-Line-Of-Duty Disability

Posted on November 20, 2008
Like appeals from other Florida state administrative bodies, appeals from the State of Florida, Division of Management Services, Division of Retirement are decided by the District Courts of Appeal. In Lawrence v. State of Florida, Division of Management Services, Division...

List of Names Sent to Governor for 4th DCA

Posted on November 17, 2008
Today, the 4th DCA Judicial Nominating Commission ("JNC") certified the nominees to the governor to fill the vacancies created by the upcoming departures of Judges Stone and Shahood. Here are the names: Judge Cory J. CiklinJudge Jonathan D. GerberJudge Alfred...

Justice Wells Resigns

Posted on November 17, 2008
Justice Charles T. Wells announced that he will resign from the Florida Supreme Court effective March 3, 2009. See the Florida Bar News online story by clicking here.

Unlicensed Real Estate Brokers and Commissions

Posted on November 17, 2008
In Schickedanz Bros.-Rivera Ltd. v. Harris, No. 4D07-2926 (Fla. 4th DCA Nov. 12, 2008), the Fourth DCA reversed a final judgment on a counterclaim involving real estate commissions. The appellee was an independent contractor paid on a commission basis by...

Temporary Injunctions Without Notice

Posted on November 14, 2008
In Beatty v. Aher, No. 5D08-2598 (Fla. 5th DCA Nov. 14, 2008), the appellants argued that the trial court improperly entered a preliminary injunction against them without notice. After the dispute between the parties arose, the appellee's counsel tried to...

Applicants for the Latest Supreme Court Vacancy

Posted on November 10, 2008
According to Friday's press release, eighteen individuals applied for the latest vacancy on the Florida Supreme Court. According to the press release, the interviews of the applicants will take place on December 8th and 9th in Tampa.

Severing Claims and the Words of Justice Douglas

Posted on November 10, 2008
In granting the defendants' Petition for Writ of Certiorari in Bethany Evangelical Covenant Church of Miami, Fla., Inc. v. Calandra, No. 3D08-1172 (Fla. 3d DCA Nov. 5, 2008), the Third DCA quoted Justice William Orville Douglas for the proposition that...

Contractor's Liens and Motions to Compel Arbitration

Posted on November 05, 2008
As the Fourth DCA ruled today, filing a motion to compel arbitration does not relieve a contractor from the requirements of Section 713.21(4), Florida Statutes. In Brookshire v. GP Construction of Palm Beach, Inc., No. 4D08-2643 (Fla. 4th DCA Nov....

Grand Theft and Value of Property

Posted on November 03, 2008
An essential element of a grand theft case is that the allegedly stolen property was worth at least $300, but less than $5,000 on the date of the theft. In White v. State, No. 1D07-4353 (Fla. 1st DCA Oct. 31,...

Public Records Requests and Prepayment

Posted on October 31, 2008
The Fourth DCA recently issued an interesting opinion on the issue of payment for copies made pursuant to a public records request. In Lozman v. City of Riviera Beach, No. 4D07-4511 (Fla. 4th DCA Oct. 29, 2008), the appellant made...

Administrative Orders and Exceptions

Posted on October 30, 2008
In Boundy v. School Board of Miami-Dade County, No. 3D07-2085 (Fla. 3d DCA Oct. 29, 2008), the Third DCA reversed a Final Order of the Miami-Dade County School Board which suspended the appellant for 30 days without pay. The School...

4th DCA Applicants Posted

Posted on October 28, 2008
Yesterday, the Fourth DCA Judicial Nominating Commission released the list of applicants who applied for the vacancies created by the resignations of Judge Shahood and Judge Stone. Click here to see the press release.

Workers' Compensation: Reasonable Attorney's Fees Allowed

Posted on October 23, 2008
Today, in a long-awaited decision, the Florida Supreme Court issued its opinion in Murray v. Mariner Health, No. SC07-244 (Fla. Oct. 23, 2008). In Murray, the Florida Supreme Court held that, based upon the plain language of Section 440.34, Florida...

Unemployment Appeals Commission: Good Cause Attributable to the Employer

Posted on October 22, 2008
Given the current state of the economy, individuals who are applying for unemployment compensation benefits in Florida may find the case of Mattice v. State of Florida, Unemployment Appeals Commission, No. 4D07-4842 (Fla. 4th DCA Oct. 22, 2008) to be...

Injunction for Protection Against Domestic Violence: Imminent Danger

Posted on October 20, 2008
In Ambrefe, Jr. v. Ambrefe, No. 2D08-433 (Fla. 2d DCA Oct. 15, 2008), the husband appealed from a final judgment of injunction for protection against domestic violence entered against him following a petition brought by his wife. At the hearing...

Waiver of Temporary Support in Prenuptial Agreement is Unenforceable

Posted on October 15, 2008
Today, in Aguilar v. Montero, No. 3D07-1068 (Fla. 3d DCA Oct. 15, 2008), the Third DCA held that a waiver of temporary support in a prenuptial agreement cannot be enforced. The parties entered into a prenuptial agreement which provided for...

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