Distribution Management Services, Inc. v. Southern Waste Systems, Ltd.

948 So. 2d 6, 2006 Fla. App. LEXIS 18592, 2006 WL 3208500
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedNovember 8, 2006
DocketNos. 3D05-2368, 3D05-2538
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 948 So. 2d 6 (Distribution Management Services, Inc. v. Southern Waste Systems, Ltd.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Distribution Management Services, Inc. v. Southern Waste Systems, Ltd., 948 So. 2d 6, 2006 Fla. App. LEXIS 18592, 2006 WL 3208500 (Fla. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

WELLS, Judge.

Distribution Management Services, Inc. and Leo Greenfield (collectively “DMSI”) appeal from final orders approving a magistrate’s final report and authorizing disbursement of escrowed funds. We affirm.

[7]*7In April of 2003, DMSI contracted to sell a parcel of real property and the recycling plant located on it for $1.05 million to Southern Waste Systems, Ltd. (“SWS”). Because the recycling plant was being operated by a third party, the contract made reference to and incorporated the third party’s operating agreement which provided the operator with the option of either continuing to operate the recycling plant for an additional five years or purchasing the recycling plant outright. In addition to the operating agreement, the contract referred to and incorporated by reference a letter of intent, alleged by SWS to be fraudulent, which permitted DMSI, upon “payment to Southern Waste Systems (“SWS”) of the sum of Eight Hundred and Fifty Thousand ($850,000.00) Dollars,” to rescind the sale to SWS if the third party operator exercised its option to continue operating the plant.

In December 2003, the third party operator exercised its option to continue operating the plant. DMSI claims to have then purchased the right to operate the plant from the third party and to have exercised the option accorded by the letter of intent by tendering $850,000 to SWS to rescind the sale. SWS refused, however, to cede either ownership or the right of possession to DMSI and brought suit primarily to quiet title to the property and to resolve DMSI’s claims to possession and ownership.1 DMSI counterclaimed for essentially the same relief.2

On May 19, 2004, the parties appeared before a general magistrate on their pending injunction motions, each party essentially seeking possession of the property and the damages flowing from the other’s wrongful possession. At that time, they stipulated on the record that General Magistrate John Farrell would resolve the equitable claims (the primary claims in the action) within sixty days. They also agreed that SWS would deposit $450,000 in a joint interest bearing account to satisfy the damages DMSI sought for breach of contract (counterclaim Count II) and wrongful use of escrow funds (counterclaim Count IV) should DMSI prevail on the ownership claim. The parties also waived exceptions to the magistrate’s conclusions.

After this agreement was dictated into the record and agreed to by counsel for the parties, the magistrate reminded the parties that he could not conduct a jury [8]*8trial and advised the parties that they had “to work that out and decide how [they] want to do it.” DMSI’s counsel asked for ten days in which to decide whether it would waive its jury trial demands.

On June 3, 2004, DMSI advised that it would not waive its right to a jury trial. It then moved to vacate the stipulation claiming that the stipulation was nullified by exercise of its jury trial demand. The motion was denied.

On September 30, 2004, SWS filed its motion for partial summary judgment on its equitable claims3 and on those counterclaims which necessarily would be determined if it prevailed on its equitable claims.4 On November 16, 2004, the magistrate issued a report concluding that DMSI had not made a proper tender to repurchase the property as required by the letter of intent, and, therefore, as a matter of law, SWS was entitled to summary judgment in its favor. Thus, the magistrate concluded that SWS was entitled to possession of the property and DMSI was not entitled to any of the $450,000 that had been put into escrow to cover DMSI’s damages in the event that it had prevailed on its counterclaims. DMSI’s exceptions to the magistrate’s report were overruled by the trial court, and the $450,000 escrow was ordered released to SWS.

DMSI appeals these determinations arguing that “the sole reason” for the stipulation to try this matter before a magistrate was “to have a jury trial on an expedited basis,” and that once it refused to waive its right to a jury trial, the stipulation became a nullity. It also contends that the trial court erred in failing to entertain its exceptions to the magistrate’s report; in approving the magistrate’s conclusion that it had not properly exercised the option to rescind/repurchase the property and plant; and in releasing the es-crowed funds following entry of judgment. We find no merit in any of these arguments.

DMSI’s argument that the “sole reason” for the stipulation was to have an expedited jury trial is belied by the record:

THE COURT: Are we ready to read the agreement? Would you do the lead, Mr. Homer [counsel for SWS]?
MR. HOMER: I will.
THE COURT: All please pay attention.
MR. HOMER: Frank [Marks, counsel for DMSI], do you want to come up before we start?
THE COURT: Before we start, the rules are that if there is any disagreement, we’ll stop right at that moment and iron out whatever the disagreement is, if there is any disagreement, rather than wait until the end and go back and try to recapitulate, all right?
MR. HOMER: Yes, sir.
THE COURT: Fine.
MR. HOMER: Okay. First thing that we agree is that we are going to adjourn the hearing today subject to the terms and conditions that I am going to announce.
First is my client, SWS, is going to post a $450,000 cash bond that’s going to be — rather than with the circuit court is going to be placed at a financial institu[9]*9tion in an interest bearing capacity, and the two law firms agree to be what we’ll call custodians for that and have signatory authority over that account.
That $450,000 will act as an indemnification — potential indemnification against loss caused to Mr. Greenfield’s company, DMSI, caused by the depravation [sic] of the operation of the property from this date until we get a resolution of this matter. The equivalent of what would normally be a wrongful injunction bond.
Subject to the court’s availability, we would agree upon a specific final hearing date and consolidate the final hearing on the merits with what would normally be an injunction hearing; and we’re proposing the final hearing date will start in 61 days, which will be Monday, Jply 20th, provided Your Honor is available. We estimate that we would need three days for that hearing.
What would be the outcome of that hearing would be that there would be a declaration of the party’s respective rights, obligations and liabilities. That the court could enter injunctive relief that the party — either party to vacate the premises and not to interfere with the other party’s rights to the property and also to direct that either party engage in further assurances by way of executing documents and things like that.
In order to accomplish that we would have a discovery schedule which would be done on an expedited basis....
There would be pretrial disclosures which would be done five business days before the final hearing....
As I indicated, the hearing would take place in 60 days....

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
948 So. 2d 6, 2006 Fla. App. LEXIS 18592, 2006 WL 3208500, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/distribution-management-services-inc-v-southern-waste-systems-ltd-fladistctapp-2006.