Can a Successor Judge Correct an Error of a Prior Judge

What happens if you get successor judge who takes over a case that was being handled by a previous judge and the new judge tries to correct errors that were previously made. The general answer is he can’t.

Florida lawsuits, can a successor judge correct an error of a prior judge in your Florida lawsuit. My name is John Pankauski. You know, the trial lawyers and appellate attorneys at Pankauski Hauser handle matters throughout the state of Florida and in many times in Florida, judges change divisions. They may be transferred from the civil division to the probate division, from the juvenile division to the criminal division and sometimes judges just retire or they have to leave a case for any number of reasons. What happens if you get a successor judge who wants to correct an error from a prior judge. Can you do that in Florida? The general rule is no. If you would like to read more about this concept of a judge trying to correct a prior judges ruling, read the Balva case, this is a 4th District Court of Appeal appellate opinion. The case number is 4d171126, it was issued in March 14th 2018. You can go on online and 4th DCA website, click on opinions, scroll down to March 14th, look for Balva vs Ontario Wealth Management Corp. There the 4th District Court of Appeal speaks about in a short written opinion the legal premise, the legal concept that is well established that a successor judge may not correct errors of law, committed by his predecessor and hence he cannot review or reverse on the merits and on the same fact of the final orders and decrees of his predecessor and they site the Dredek case which is a 2012 4th District Court of Appeal case. So, if you are involved in a lawsuit in Florida and the judges have changed, can a successor trustee try to overturn or overrule or correct a ruling of a prior judge, the general answer is no.