GUZMAN v. FREMONTSMITH (2025)

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District.

Marcos GUZMAN, Appellant, v. Alexander FREMONTSMITH, Appellee.

No. 4D2024-0987

Decided: December 17, 2025

Ian Bressler of Ian Bressler Law P.A., Lake Worth, and Andrew A. Harris and Grace Mackey Streicher of Harris Appeals, P.A., Palm Beach Gardens, for appellant. Jack R. Reiter and Sydney Feldman D'Angelo of GrayRobinson, P.A., Miami, for appellee.

Appellant timely appeals the dismissal of his complaint for failure to comply with Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.070(j). Because the limitations period had run before appellant had filed his complaint, the trial court dismissed the complaint with prejudice. On appeal, Appellant argues, among other things, that the trial court erred in its dismissal order by relying upon Morales v. Sperry Rand Corp., 601 So. 2d 538 (Fla. 1992).

Appellant is correct. Morales involved an earlier version of rule 1.070(j), which differs materially from the amended version of rule 1.070(j) that was applicable in this case. Accordingly, we reverse the order of dismissal and remand the case to the trial court with instructions to analyze the motion to dismiss under rule 1.070(j)’s amended version. See Foster v. Chung, 738 So. 2d 350, 352 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999) (remanding “for a determination of whether [the trial court] would grant [the plaintiff] an extension to serve [the defendant] or dismiss the action in light of rule 1.070(j) as amended”).

Reversed and remanded with instructions.

Per Curiam.

Ciklin, Levine and Shaw, JJ., concur.

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