Florida Estate Lawsuits: Can You Be Held in Contempt for Ignoring a Florida Court Order?

Florida trust and estates lawyers know that not all court orders are followed and that, unfortunately, not all litigants come to court in good faith.That being said, not every aspect of Florida probate litigation can be enforced through contempt order(s). Do you know what a contempt order is?  Estate lawyers in Florida know that willful violations of court orders can lead to contempt in certain circumstances. What happens if you are held in contempt? You could be required to pay a fine or even spend a few nights in jail. A May 21,2017 Fourth DCA opinion, Rosenwater v. Deutsche Bank National Trust Company, discusses what can happen if you choose to ignore a court order in Florida.

This was a Florida foreclosure case, not a Palm Beach probate lawsuit. However, it serves as an excellent example as to what can happen to someone if they ignore a court order. Here, a Florida trial judge issued an order scheduling a case management conference. The order stated: SHOULD YOU FAIL TO PERSONALLY ATTEND THE CASE MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE, YOUR FAILURE TO ATTEND COULD RESULT IN A DISMISSAL, DEFAULT, STRIKING THE ABSENT PARTIES’ PLEADINGS AND/OR OTHER APPROPRIATE SANCTIONS. Despite the order, the defense counsel decided not to appear at this conference. During the conference, the trial judge called defense counsel on speaker phone. The defense counsel’s staff was not very accommodating to the judge. At first, the judge wasn’t even able to speak with defense counsel himself. The office stated that he was on the phone. Then, they had an associate attorney come on the line. The associate stated that “his office did not feel the need to attend the CMC because Defendant and the bank’s counsel had worked out an agreed order on the pending Motion to Dismiss.” Does this make it OK for a Florida lawyer to ignore a court order? Is it EVER OK to ignore a court order? Eventually, defense counsel did come on the line. Instead of apologizing to the judge for ignoring the court order, or asking to attend the conference via telephone, defense counsel gave reasons why he felt the CMC was not worthy of even having coverage counsel attend. This all ended up resulting in the trial judge finding defense counsel guilty of criminal contempt.  Defense counsel appealed. What does being found guilty of criminal contempt mean for a Florida attorney or litigant? What did the Fourth DCA have to say? To read the entire case, click here.