Court Opinion

ID: 9903852
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-11-27 16:07:09.081108+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:20:20.804576
License: Public Domain

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA
                      FIFTH DISTRICT

                                   NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO
                                   FILE MOTION FOR REHEARING AND
                                   DISPOSITION THEREOF IF FILED

ANNEEN NINA GLORIA BAUM,

            Appellant,
                                        Case Nos. 5D19-2156
v.                                                5D19-3750
                                        LT Case No. 2017-CA-049763

BECKER & POLIAKOFF, P.A., WAYNE ALDER,
TERESA HOFFMAN, ESQ. A/K/A TERESA
SUE ABOOD, ESQ., LAW OFFICES OF
HOFFMAN & HOFFMAN, P.A., SEAN
LANGTON, ESQ., MAGGIE BERRYMAN, ESQ.,
ET AL.,

            Appellees.

________________________________/

Opinion filed November 18, 2022

Appeal from the Circuit Court
for Brevard County,
Charles J. Roberts, Judge.

Tino Gonzalez, of Tino Gonzalez,
P.A., Melbourne, for Appellant.

Ceci C. Berman and Joseph T.
Eagleton, of Brannock & Humphries,
Tampa, and Robert D. Critton and J.
Chris Bristow, of Critton, Luttier &
Coleman, LLP, West Palm Beach,
for Appellees, Becker & Poliakoff,
P.A. and Wayne Alder.

Michael M. Brownlee, of Fisher
Rushmer, P.A., Orlando, for
Appellees, Teresa Hoffman, Esq.
and Hoffman & Hoffman, P.A.

Ryan C. Tyler, of Boldt Law Firm,
Boca Raton, for Appellees, Boldt
Law Firm, P.A., Kimberly L. Boldt,
Esq., and Jeffrey D. Mueller, Esq.

No Appearance for Other Appellees.

EDWARDS, J.

                        ON MOTION FOR REHEARING

      Appellees, Becker & Poliakoff and Hoffman & Hoffman, have moved

for rehearing and rehearing en banc, which motions are denied.            We

withdraw our prior opinion and substitute this opinion in its place to clarify

certain matters.

      Appellant, Anneen Nina Gloria Baum, filed suit against multiple

attorneys and firms who had represented her in probate litigation and a

related appeal. In this consolidated appeal, she seeks reversal of each

summary judgment that was entered in favor of three defendant law firms

and the individual lawyer-defendants affiliated with the law firms. Appellant

argues that the summary judgments were improvidently granted as there

                                      2
were genuine issues of material fact which remained to be litigated. We

affirm as to The Boldt Law Firm, but we otherwise reverse for further

proceedings.1

                              Background Facts

      This is a legal malpractice case that arises out of probate litigation

primarily in the nature of a will contest. Lawyers representing Appellant prior

to Appellees becoming her counsel filed two related probate actions which

attempted to revoke probate and remove the personal representative, her

brother, asserting that he exercised undue influence over their father,

resulting in her being completely disinherited from the $100 million estate.

However, Appellant’s predecessor counsel failed to effect service of process

upon the personal representative. The probate court issued a written order

that set a firm deadline, December 13, 2013, by which service had to be

perfected and specifically stated that parties not served by the deadline

would be dropped. It is undisputed that process was not served by the

deadline. Appellees did not yet represent Appellant when that deadline was

missed.

      1
       We will refer to all of the Appellees in this opinion, excluding The Boldt
Firm, collectively as “Appellees.”

                                       3
      In January 2014, the personal representative filed a motion to drop

parties, including himself, and dismiss Appellant’s probate litigation due to

non-service by the deadline. Hoffman & Hoffman, P.A.2 and Becker &

Poliakoff began representing Appellant sometime January or February of

2014. In response to the motion to drop parties and dismiss, Appellees filed

a motion to amend, which proposed combining the two probate actions into

one petition to supposedly streamline things going forward. The motion did

not argue good cause for failure to serve the personal representative.

      Appellees 3 appeared on behalf of Appellant at the March 18, 2014

hearing on the personal representative’s motion to drop parties and dismiss.

They did not respond directly to the motion and again made no effort during

      2
        Teresa Hoffman a/k/a Teresa Abood, and Sean Langton, attorneys
at Hoffman & Hoffman, P.A., were defendants below and are also named as
Appellees (collectively “Hoffman & Hoffman”). In one aspect of their motion
for rehearing, Hoffman & Hoffman argue that Sean Langton’s involvement in
the underlying case was de minimis and that summary judgment as to him
should have been affirmed. In resolving the motions for rehearing, this Court
has considered that argument and concluded that the record is not yet ripe
as to that issue; therefore, that aspect of Hoffman & Hoffman’s motion for
rehearing is denied without prejudice.
      3
       The other appellees are lawyers Kimberly L. Boldt and Jeffrey D.
Mueller and their law firm, The Boldt Law Firm (collectively referred to
hereinafter “The Boldt Law Firm”). They became involved in the underlying
probate litigation after the March 18, 2014 hearing and filing of the motion for
rehearing and clarification. They were going to participate on Appellant’s
behalf with appellate legal representation regarding the dismissal of the
probate litigation.

                                       4
the March 18, 2014 hearing to show good cause or explain why Appellant

had not timely perfected service.

         During that hearing, the personal representative pointed out to the

probate court that Appellees made absolutely no effort to explain Appellant’s

failure to meet the service deadline.        The personal representative also

argued to the probate court that Appellant’s recently filed motion to amend

was no excuse for failing to serve process by the court-ordered deadline,

citing the case of Powell v. Madison County, 100 So. 3d 753 (Fla. 1st DCA

2012), in which a similar effort had been rejected. The probate court entered

written orders dropping the personal representative as a party and

dismissing Appellant’s probate litigation cases, effectively with prejudice,

since the time for filing any will contest actions or similar action had passed.

         After the orders dropping parties and dismissing the case were

rendered, Appellees filed a motion for rehearing and clarification in which

they, for the first time, argued that good cause and excusable neglect existed

to excuse missing the deadline for serving process; they attached affidavits

of Appellant’s predecessor counsel and the process server outlining the

unsuccessful attempts at serving process. 4 Appellees also argued for the

         4
             We do not decide here whether the motion for rehearing was timely
filed.

                                         5
first time in the motion for rehearing that the probate court erred in dismissing

the probate litigation without having conducted the analysis required by

Kozel v. Ostendorf, 629 So. 2d 817 (Fla. 1993). 5 The probate court denied

the motion for rehearing and clarification, and the orders dropping parties

and dismissing the case were affirmed on appeal.

                  Summary of Malpractice Claims and Defenses

      This consolidated appeal includes a massive record reflecting years of

litigation. We offer the following in an effort to simplify what is involved.

Appellant filed a multi-count legal malpractice action against all the lawyers

who represented her at any time in the probate litigation. This consolidated

appeal only involves the summary judgments in favor of the named

Appellees and does not concern claims against Appellant’s predecessor

counsel.

      5
        The Florida Supreme Court in Kozel concluded that dismissing a case
because a lawyer failed to comply with a court’s order may often be too
harsh. The supreme court found that although the trial court “acted within
the boundaries of the law,” the court’s “decision to dismiss the case based
solely on the attorney’s neglect unduly punishes the litigant and espouses a
policy that this Court does not wish to promote.” Kozel, 629 So. 2d at 818.
The Kozel factors were adopted for use in determining good cause
under Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.070(j) in Pixton v. Williams
Scotsman, Inc., 924 So. 2d 37, 40 (Fla. 5th DCA 2006).

                                       6
      Appellees basically argue that what sank Appellant’s probate litigation

was the failure of her predecessor counsel to effect timely service of process.

Because that omission occurred before they ever got involved, Appellees

argue that under no theory can they be liable. However, Appellant argues

that while her case already was in peril of going under before Appellees

showed up, it had not yet sunk. Appellant alleged in her affidavit opposing

summary judgment that Appellees were aware of the November 15, 2013

order setting the deadline for service of process and further that Becker &

Poliakoff represented to her they could and would easily overcome it.

Appellant also alleged that Appellees indeed could have salvaged her case

by showing good cause or excusable neglect during the March 18, 2014

hearing; however, they made no effort to do so. Appellant contends that

Appellees’ representation of her was negligent and led to dismissal of her

probate litigation, which in turn proximately resulted in her having no

opportunity to receive anything from her father’s $100 million estate. In other

words, she claims that but for Appellees’ alleged negligence, she would have

prevailed on the personal representative’s motion to drop parties and

dismiss, which would have permitted her to pursue setting aside the probate

of the subject will and would have given her a reasonable prospect of

receiving some inheritance from her father’s estate.

                                      7
      After litigation and discovery proceeded in the legal malpractice case,

which is the subject of this appeal, Appellees moved for summary judgment.6

The trial court granted the motions for summary judgment, and this timely

appeal follows.

                                 Standard of Review

      District courts of appeal employ a de novo standard of review when it

comes to summary judgments. See Volusia Cnty. v. Aberdeen at Ormond

Beach, L.P., 760 So. 2d 126, 130 (Fla. 2000). “Summary judgment is proper

if there is no genuine issue of material fact and if the moving party is entitled

to a judgment as a matter of law.” Id. The underlying summary judgments

were entered prior to the Florida Supreme Court’s adoption of the new

summary judgment standard.

      Florida law is clear: “The moving party bears the initial burden of

showing that, based on the summary judgment evidence, no material issues

of fact exist and it is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Boyle v.

Hernando Beach S. Prop. Owners Ass’n, 124 So. 3d 317, 319 (Fla. 5th DCA

2013) (citing Holl v. Talcott, 191 So. 2d 40, 43 (Fla. 1966); Bryson v. Branch

      6
        Hoffman & Hoffman’s motion for summary judgment adopted many
of the arguments and documents set forth in Becker & Poliakoff’s motion for
summary judgment and its summary judgment evidence. In turn, The Boldt
Law Firm filed a notice adopting the summary judgment motion previously
filed by Hoffman & Hoffman.

                                       8
Banking & Tr. Co., 75 So. 3d 783, 785 (Fla. 2d DCA 2011); Krol v. City of

Orlando, 778 So. 2d 490, 491–92 (Fla. 5th DCA 2001)). Until the moving

party has met that burden, the non-moving party is not obliged to prove or

disprove anything. If “the movant has met its initial burden, the non-moving

party then bears the burden of showing that there are issues of material fact

that exist and that the movant is not entitled to a judgment as a matter of

law.” Id. “The movant cannot satisfy that initial burden merely ‘by showing

that up until the time of his motion his adversary has not produced sufficient

evidence in support of his pleadings to require a trial.’” Fields v. Devereux

Found., Inc., 244 So. 3d 1193, 1195 (Fla. 2d DCA 2018) (citations omitted).

“The trial court must view the summary judgment evidence in the light most

favorable to the non-moving party when deciding whether summary

judgment is appropriate.” Boyle, 124 So. 3d at 319 (citations omitted).

       Elements of a Legal Malpractice Claim Arising from Litigation

     “In Florida, to prevail on a legal malpractice claim, the plaintiff must

prove the following three elements: (1) the attorney’s employment; (2) the

attorney’s neglect of a reasonable duty; and (3) the attorney’s negligence

resulted in and was the proximate cause of loss to the client.” Tarleton v.

Arnstein & Lehr, 719 So. 2d 325, 328 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998) (citations omitted);

see also Bill Branch Chevrolet, Inc. v. Burnett, 555 So. 2d 455, 456 (Fla. 2d

                                      9
DCA 1990). The central issue in this appeal is Appellees’ argument that they

could not be the proximate cause of Appellant’s case being dismissed

because prior counsel had already missed the deadline to serve process.

        Appellees’ Response to Motion to Drop Parties and Dismiss

       Becker & Poliakoff argued below and on appeal that Appellant’s

probate litigation was “effectively dismissed” in December 2013; however,

the hearing on the motion to dismiss occurred in March 2014 and the orders

of dismissal were rendered in April 2014, weeks if not months after Appellees

undertook to represent Appellant. The fact that the deadline for serving

process was missed obviously did not by itself terminate Appellant’s probate

litigation.   In fact, according to Appellant’s affidavit opposing summary

judgment, Appellees were retained, at least in part, to take reasonable steps

to avoid the adverse consequences of Appellant’s predecessor counsel’s

failure to effect service of process. From all facts in the summary judgment

record, Appellees undertook the duty to respond to the motion to drop parties

and dismiss to keep Appellant’s probate litigation going.

       However, the facts demonstrate that Appellees made no attempt, prior

to or during the March 18, 2014 hearing, to prove good cause or excusable

neglect for failing to timely serve process. Thus, there is clearly a dispute

                                     10
concerning Appellees’ claim that they “did everything possible to revive the

[probate] claim.”

      Appellees, Hoffman & Hoffman and Becker & Poliakoff, claimed during

the summary judgment hearing and in this appeal that there was absolutely

no hope of dealing with the consequences of Appellant’s predecessor

counsel’s failure to timely serve process.      They argue that missing the

December 13, 2013 deadline meant that Appellant’s probate litigation was

already “Black-Flag” 7 dead before they got involved.           We reject this

argument, for purposes of summary judgment on this record, given

Appellees’ failure to offer any evidence prior to or during the March 18, 2014

hearing concerning good cause. Whether the grounds and proofs later

offered by Appellees would have successfully excused failing to serve

process, or if the trial court would have employed some sanction other than

dismissal pursuant to Kozel, also remain disputed. Indeed, Appellant points

to testimony that, if timely presented at the March 18, 2014 hearing, could

demonstrate Appellant played no role in the failure to timely serve process,

other than to inquire frequently as to the status of service.

      7
         The trial court used that term, an apparent reference to the
predictable consequence of insects being sprayed with Black-Flag brand
insecticide.

                                      11
     Thus, summary judgment was improvidently granted as to Appellees,

Hoffman & Hoffman and Becker & Poliakoff.

                               Conclusion

     Accordingly, for the reasons set forth above, we find that the trial court

erred in granting summary judgment for Appellees. We therefore reverse

and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

     REVERSED and REMANDED for further proceedings.

EISNAUGLE and SASSO, JJ., concur.

                                     12