Third DCA Case: Appellee loses his injunction because the trial judge forgot to make certain findings on the order! Who pays now?

Just because your Palm Beach probate litigator did everything  right does not mean you will not end up on appeal – they also need to watch what the judge is doing! Sometimes an error in a judicial order from the probate judge may spell appeal, just because of a careless error! Do you think the probate judge who was not paying attention is going to cover those appeal legal costs?Think again, you are on the hook so watch out! Don’t believe me? Check out this recent case out of the Third District Court of Appeal where a judge’s order was hastily drawn up and that lead to an expensive appeal.

What is an Order?

• An order is what the judge hands down after a hearing or trial.
• It tells the parties what his or her decision is and what they have to do as a result.
• Watch out though in West Palm Beach certain orders require specific findings of fact.
• What does that mean?
• It means the order has to do more than just tell everyone what to do it has to explain why the judge is ordering that remedy.
• For example in West Palm Beach if you want an injunction you better make sure that the judge outlines all four elements of an injunction in the order.
• They will also have to tie the facts of your case to those elements.
• The problem with this rule is you may end up being a victim to unnecessary expenses when a judge messes up.
• Watch out.
• Take a look at this recent case out of the Third District Court of Appeal where that is exactly what happened.

Lutsky v. Schoenwetter

• This was an appeal where one party had received a temporary injunction against the other.
• That is a very specific type of West Palm Beach order that says the party can’t do certain things.
• Regardless of what the order said, it did not mean much because it was appealed and the other side won.
• All of this because the judge decided not to write out the specifics of the order!
• The problem with all of this is the judge is not the one who has to pay to defend that case on appeal you do!

Want to learn more about keeping your case from being appealed?

Check out the entire case by clicking here.