Casa Inv. Co., Inc. v. Nestor

Summary

The Florida Third District Court of Appeal granted Casa Investment Co., Inc.'s petition for second-level certiorari and quashed a circuit court appellate division decision affirming summary judgment for Marcel Nestor. The court held that an ore tenus motion for summary judgment violated Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.510(c)'s written-service and 20-day notice requirements, depriving Casa of due process.

Holdings

1. Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.510(c) does not permit an oral motion for summary judgment. A summary-judgment motion must be served in writing, state its grounds with particularity, identify the relied-upon evidence, and be served at least 20 days before the hearing.
2. Granting summary judgment on Nestor's improperly noticed oral motion deprived Casa of due process and constituted a departure from the essential requirements of law; the appellate division's affirmance was therefore quashed.

Questions Presented

1. Whether an oral, ore tenus motion for summary judgment may be granted when the motion was not written, served, and noticed at least 20 days before the hearing as required by Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.510(c).
2. Whether granting the improperly noticed oral summary-judgment motion deprived Casa of due process and constituted a departure from the essential requirements of law warranting second-level certiorari.

Disposition

quashed