JULIEN v. ALHADEFF (2020)

Robinson Julien and King Alpha Properties & Investments, LLC (collectively, “Appellants”), appeal the trial court's order granting Mark Alhadeff's ¹ motion for summary judgment.² The trial court heard and ruled on Alhadeff's motion before Appellants served an answer to the complaint or asserted any affirmative defenses and while Appellants’ motion to dismiss was pending before it. Thus, Alhadeff had a “heightened burden of establishing conclusively and to a certainty that Appellants could not plead or otherwise raise a genuine issue of material fact.” Zur Invs., LLC v. Auslander, 45 Fla. L. Weekly D1933, ––– So.3d ––––, 2020 WL 4640572 (Fla. 3d DCA Aug. 12, 2020) (“When a trial court has for consideration a plaintiff's motion for summary judgment before the defendant has answered, the summary judgment should not be granted unless it is clear that an issue of material fact cannot be presented.” (citations omitted)). Alhadeff failed to meet this “extremely high” burden, and, as such, we reverse the trial court's order and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. See id.

Reversed and remanded.

FOOTNOTES

1.   Alhadeff is the Trustee of the AMM Family Trust Dated December 31, 2012 (the “Trust”).

2.   Alhadeff, as Trustee of the Trust, filed a complaint against Appellants, seeking to enforce the terms of a settlement agreement and quiet title to the subject property. The complaint alleged, inter alia, that Appellants breached a settlement agreement and violated Florida's Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act.

PER CURIAM.