Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida; May 17, 2019; Florida; State Appellate Court
Julio E. Gil de Lamadrid, the Petitioner, sought certiorari review of two orders involving Bowles Custom Pools and Spas, Inc. The first order allowed Bowles to partially intervene in the case, which is reviewable by certiorari under Florida law. The second order denied the Petitioner's motion to disqualify Bowles's counsel, which is treated as a nonfinal appeal. The court granted the certiorari petition, quashing the order permitting Bowles to intervene, while dismissing the nonfinal appeal as moot.
The background involves a September 2013 Puerto Rico court judgment dissolving the marriage between the Petitioner and Matilde De Jesus Rivera, who was awarded real property in Orlando, Florida, in a December 2016 judgment regarding property division. In August 2017, the Petitioner attempted to domesticate this foreign judgment under Florida's Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act (FEFJA) to remove the Former Wife as a co-owner of the property. Although the Former Wife did not contest the domestication, Bowles intervened, claiming it had a prior judgment against the Petitioner and Former Wife from 2008 and alleging fraud and asset dissipation.
The circuit court initially approved the domestication petition, but Bowles later moved to vacate this judgment, arguing that its judgment had attached to the Former Wife's share of the property and that she had not been properly notified. The court agreed, vacating the domesticated judgment and partially granting Bowles's motion to intervene to protect its interests.
The court noted that certiorari relief is available for erroneous interlocutory orders if it shows a departure from essential legal requirements and causes irreparable harm. Since Bowles did not intervene during the Puerto Rico dissolution proceedings, the court found it could not do so in the domestication petition. The intervention order was determined to cause irreparable harm to the Petitioner and was therefore quashed.
The final ruling includes the granting of certiorari, the quashing of the intervention order, and the dismissal of the nonfinal appeal, with concurring opinions from Judges Wallis and Edwards. Additionally, it was noted that the Petitioner unnecessarily filed a separate action to domesticate the judgment, as compliance with FEFJA sufficed, and that Bowles lacked standing to argue about the notice to the Former Wife regarding the foreign judgment.
