Metalonis v. Eastgroup Props., Inc., No. 3D19-1297

298 So.3d 1215

David C. METALONIS, Appellant,

v.EASTGROUP PROPERTIES, INC., et al., Appellees.

No. 3D19-1297

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District.

Opinion filed February 12, 2020

Kula & Associates, P.A., and Elliot B. Kula, W. Aaron Daniel and William D. Mueller, for appellant.

Akerman LLP, and Gerald B. Cope, Jr., Joseph L. Rebak and Lorayne Perez, for appellees.

Before LOGUE, HENDON and GORDO, JJ.

GORDO, J.

David Metalonis appeals the trial court's order granting Eastgroup Properties, Inc.'s emergency motion to compel compliance with the settlement agreement the parties entered into to resolve a suit over a parcel of land. Under the terms of the agreement, Eastgroup would pay Metalonis $2.45 million in exchange for his voluntary dismissal of the action with prejudice. The parties also agreed to exchange releases after the money was paid.

After Eastgroup paid the sum as required by the agreement, Metalonis failed to dismiss the case and claimed he wanted to further negotiate the terms of the settlement. Eastgroup filed an emergency motion to compel compliance with the settlement agreement, which was set for a hearing three days later.

At the hearing, Metalonis's counsel conceded the parties had reached a settlement agreement but claimed that there were still details to be negotiated. Metalonis's counsel, thus, asked the court to reserve jurisdiction on any remaining enforcement issues. He never requested an evidentiary hearing. After hearing argument from both parties, the trial court approved the terms of the agreement, granted the motion to compel and retained jurisdiction to enforce the terms of the settlement agreement.

The court ordered the parties to execute releases—modified as necessary to conform to the parties' intent—and ordered Metalonis to file a notice of voluntary dismissal with prejudice in compliance with the terms of the agreement. The order specified that if Metalonis failed to file the voluntary dismissal, the court would dismiss the case with prejudice.

Following the court's order, the parties negotiated the terms of the general releases and Metalonis filed his notice of voluntary dismissal on June 3, 2019. On June 14, 2019, as part of a ministerial action to close the case, the trial court entered an order of dismissal.

Metalonis appealed the order granting the emergency motion to compel. Eastgroup filed a motion to dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction. In response, Metalonis argued the voluntary dismissal was "involu...