Justia Florida Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

This case arose from a malfunctioning HVAC system installed in a new building owned by Caduceus Properties. Caduceus sued Michael Gordon, the building architect, and Gordon initiated a third-party action against KTD Consulting Engineers and William Graney, who designed the HVAC system. The third-party claims were dismissed. After the statute of limitations governing Caduceus’ original action had expired, Caduceus successfully amended its complaint to name third-party defendants, KTD and Graney, as party defendants to the action. The trial court ruled against KTD and Graney. The court of appeal reversed, holding that the amended complaint did not relate back and was barred by the statute of limitations. The Supreme Court remanded, holding (1) an amended complaint, filed after the statute of limitations has expired, that names a party who had previously been made a third-party defendant as a party defendant, relates back under Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.190(c) to the filing of the third-party complaint; and (2) for the amended pleading to be timely in this situation, the third-party complaint must have been filed prior to the expiration of the statute of limitations, and the plaintiff’s claims in the amended complaint must arise from the same conduct, transaction, or occurrence set forth in the third-party complaint. View "Caduceus Props., LLC v. William G. Graney, P.E." on Justia Law