Have the Trial Court Rule on a Motion BEFORE the Court Loses Jurisdiction

In a recent construction posting that I posted here, it discusses when a trial court loses jurisdiction. This is a worthy consideration because in this case the trial court no longer had jurisdiction to rule on a motion after the final judgment was entered and the time for a rehearing and appeal expired. Here are the key takeaways from the case: (1) "The general rule is that an action remains pending in the trial court until after a final judgment and such time as an appeal is taken or time for an appeal expires. By the time the trial court had ruled...

18 April

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Election of Remedies PRIOR to Final Judgment

Posted by David Adelstein

in Trial Perspectives

Oftentimes, a plaintiff will plead alternative claims or theories of liability against a defendant(s). Pleading in the alternative is allowed under Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.110(g). The plaintiff is entitled to elect--between two mutually exclusive (alternative) remedies--the remedy it prefers any time prior to the entry of final judgment. See Liddle v. A.F. Dozer, Inc., 777 So.2d 421 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001); see also Burr v. Norris, 667 So.2d 424, 426 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996) (“Plaintiffs are also allowed to plead inconsistent or alternative actions and need only elect remedies before final judgment.”) This allows the plaintiff to present...