Moving to Enforce the Appellate Court’s Mandate

 

 

When an appellate opinion is issued (and after any post-opinion motions have been resolved or the timing to file same has expired), oftentimes the matter is remanded back to the trial court to implement the appellate court’s opinion or mandate.   This mandate is the “official mode of communicating the judgment of the appellate court to the lower court, directing the action to be taken or the disposition to be made of the cause by the trial court.” Tierney v. Tierney, 290 So.2d 136, 137 (Fla. 2d DCA 1974).  In other words, once that mandate is issued, the trial court is obligated to comply.

What happens if the trial court does not comply with the appellate court’s mandate in the appellate opinion?   A party can move to enforce the mandate in the appellate court.

In Florida Digestive Health Specialists, LLP v. Ramon E. Colina, M.D., LLC, 41 Fla. L. Weekly D2078a (Fla. 2d DCA 2016), the appellate court issued an opinion that remanded the matter back to the trial court to implement the mandate in the opinion.   In this matter, the mandate explained how the trial court was to implement a temporary injunction to enforce a restrictive covenant / non-compete agreement.   On remand, however, the trial court issued an order that did not fully comply with the appellate court’s mandate. This prompted a party to file a motion to enforce the mandate with the appellate court (as well as a notice of appeal of the trial court’s order that did not comply with the appellate mandate).

The appellate court granted the motion to enforce its mandate instructing the trial court to enter an order pursuant to its mandate:

This [appellate] court “is vested with all the power and authority necessary for carrying into complete execution all of its judgments, decrees, orders, and determinations in the matters before it.” § 35.08, Fla. Stat. (2015). “No principle of appellate jurisdiction is more firmly established than the one which provides that a trial court utterly lacks the power to deviate from the terms of an appellate mandate.” Mendelson v. Mendelson, 341 So. 2d 811, 813-14 (Fla. 2d DCA 1977). That is, “upon the issuance of our mandate, the trial court is without authority to take any action other than to compose an order carrying out the terms of the mandate.” City of Miami Beach v. Arthree, Inc., 300 So. 2d 65, 67 (Fla. 3d DCA 1973). The trial court must execute the mandate without variance or examination; it may not review the mandate — “even for apparent error” — or grant any additional or further relief. Rinker Materials Corp. v. Holloway Materials Corp., 175 So. 2d 564, 565 (Fla. 2d DCA 1965) (quoting In re Sanford Fork & Tool Co., 160 U.S. 247, 255 (1895)). Further, “any motion or petition to vary the judgment of this court may not be entertained without the express permission of this court to do so.” Arthree, 300 So. 2d at 67.

Florida Digestive Health Specialists, supra. 

 

Please contact David Adelstein at [email protected] or (954) 361-4720 if you have questions or would like more information regarding this article. You can follow David Adelstein on Twitter @DavidAdelstein1.