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Eastman v. Flor-Ohio9/17/1999
Appeal from the Circuit Court for Brevard County, Bruce W. Jacobus, Judge.
ON MOTION FOR REHEARING
Upon review of appellant's motion for rehearing of the July 2, 1999 opinion of this court, we withdraw the same and issue the following corrected opinion. In all other respects, the motion for rehearing is denied.
In this negligence action, a jury found Attorney David D. Eastman and his firm, Parker, Skelding, Labasky & Corry, P.A. (the law firm), liable to Flor-Ohio, Ltd. (the park owner) for legal malpractice. The law firm appeals the final judgment arguing the trial court erred in 1) denying its motion for summary judgment based on the theory that the park owner had abandoned its cause of action for legal malpractice by voluntarily dismissing its appeal in an earlier related case, 2) not admitting into evidence a settlement agreement, and 3) denying its motion for a new trial. We affirm.
The park owner owns and operates a mobile home community known as The Lakes of Melbourne. Residents of the community own their mobile homes but pay the park owner rent for the lots upon which the homes are located. In 1988, the park owner hired the law firm to effectuate rental rate increases on its lots. The law firm assigned the project to one of its associates, Attorney Eastman, who prepared rate increase notices effective May 1, 1989. Attorney Eastman sent the notices to the park owner's resident manager for distribution. Again in 1990, 1991, and 1992, Attorney Eastman prepared rate increase notices for the park owner and sent the notices to the park owner's resident manager for distribution.
In October 1989, the board of directors of The Lakes of Melbourne Homeowners' Association (homeowners' association) complained to the park owner's resident manager that the board had not received notice of the May 1, 1989 rent increase. Thereafter, individual home owners filed a class action lawsuit against the park owner seeking reimbursement for the increased rent which had been paid. The complaint alleged that, although the resident manager mailed the notices to the home owners, the manager did not send a notice to the board of directors of the homeowners' association as required by Florida law.
Upon motion filed by the home owners, the trial court entered summary judgment against the park owner, finding that the park owner had failed to comply with the notice requirement of section 723.037(1). The court ruled that the "notice of increase in lot rental amount was unlawful and invalid." The park owner timely appealed the summary judgment order and retained new counsel.
After the appeal was filed, the park owner entered into a settlement with the home owners. Upon execution of a settlement agreement, the park owner voluntarily dismissed its pending appeal.
The park owner thereafter filed this negligence action against the law firm alleging legal malpractice in relation to the home owners' class action suit. The complaint alleged that the law firm was negligent in failing to prepare the notice of rental increases in compliance with the requirements set forth in section 723.037(1), Florida Statutes, and that the law firm's negligence caused the park owner damage including lost rents, past and future, to which it would have otherwise been entitled.
The law firm filed a pretrial motion for summary judgment arguing that, as a matter of law, judgment should be entered in its favor because the park owner could not establish its claim of legal malpractice because its appeal in the underlying class action suit had been voluntarily dismissed. More specifically, the law firm argued that the park owner had abandoned its lega
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