Flowers v. Miskoff

233 So. 2d 201, 1970 Fla. App. LEXIS 6660
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedMarch 4, 1970
DocketNo. 2621
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 233 So. 2d 201 (Flowers v. Miskoff) 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
Flowers v. Miskoff, 233 So. 2d 201, 1970 Fla. App. LEXIS 6660 (Fla. Ct. App. 1970).

Opinion

WALDEN, Judge.

This is an appeal brought by a plaintiff from an order denying his motion for summary judgment and granting the defendant’s motion for summary judgment. We affirm.

Plaintiff is a lawyer. He was employed by defendant, John Miskoff, and one, P. L. Watson, on behalf of Mr. Watson’s sister, A. V. Abbott, to obtain a declaratory decree as to the rights of stockholders in D. D. S. Corporation. The stated object of the litigation was to obtain a judicial declaration that defendant, Mrs. Abbott, and the Estate of Thurman Whiteside, each have one-third of the authorized capital stock of D. D. S. Corporation and to obtain an accounting between these stockholders as to monies due to them by the corporation.

It was agreed in the letter form contract that the fee would be $10,000.00, of which $2,500.00 would be paid in cash, and the balance “only out of and from monies re[203]*203ceived by D. D. S. Corporation, or its stockholders, from or out of the lands involved in the litigation.”

It was further specifically provided, “You [meaning plaintiff] are hereby granted a lien upon the stock of Mrs. Abbott and Miskoff [meaning the defendant] in said corporation for the payment of the $7,500.00 when due.”

With this background, plaintiff sued the defendant, Miskoff, for his attorney fee. His complaint was lengthy and detailed showing the acquisition by D. D. S. Corporation of certain farm machinery and a tract of 5360 acres of land for a purchase price in excess of $180,000.00. It revealed that defendant, one T. A. Whiteside and A. V. Abbott owned all of the corporation’s stock, with each owning one-third. It alleged the death of T. A. Whiteside and the filing of the suit by plaintiff for the defendant and Mrs. Abbott against the corporation and the administrator of the Whiteside Estate in accordance with the above employment agreement. Plaintiff says that his obligations and services were completely performed under the agreement. He then details a series of property transfers wherein the defendant acquired title to a number of tracts of land which had belonged to the corporation. He plead the corporation had received in cash through sale of the real estate a sum in excess of $408,000.00. We now reproduce the gravamen of plaintiff’s complaint, which is critical to our evaluation of this appeal:

“28. As will appear from said employment contract * * * the defendant and said P. L. Watson agreed to pay to plaintiff * * * the sum of $10,-000.00 as attorneys’ fees, $2,500.00 of which was to be paid in cash, as a retainer fee, and the balance of $7,500.00 was to be paid out of monies received by D.D.S. Corp., or its stockholders, from and out of the lands of said corporation, when sold. The said P. L. Watson, on behalf of his sister, A. V. Abbott, has paid and settled in full for his one-half of the said $10,000.00 fee. The defendant paid $1,000.00 on or about the time said contract was first drawn, and has paid no other sum whatsoever upon said contract. * * *
“29. Because of the allegations in this amended complaint, the plaintiff is entitled to an equitable lien on the said lands owned by the defendant, as aforesaid, as security for the sum of $4,000.00, with interest thereon from February 20, 1963, as provided by law.
"PRAYERS
“WHEREFORE, the plaintiff prays the Court as follows :
“1. That it will grant an equitable lien to the plaintiff upon- the said lands so owned by the defendant,' as alleged in this amended complaint.
“2. That it will order the defendant to pay plaintiff the amount due plaintiff under said employment contract, with interest as provided by law, within a short day to be fixed by the Court, and that in default of such payment, as ordered by the Court, the said lands be sold to satisfy the said equitable lien.”

The defendant’s answer was multifaceted and we mention only that which treats the appellate issue. He defended:

“2. That the contract sued upon was a joint undertaking by this defendant and one P. L. Watson; and that prior to the commencement of this action, plaintiff settled his claim on the contract here sued upon with one of the joint obligors, P. L. Watson, and thereby settled and discharged the entire agreement and any liability of both P. L. Watson and this defendant under such agreement.
**'****
“6. That plaintiff, if he is entitled to recover at all, has an adequate remedy at law in that this defendant is solvent and responsive to a judgment for the full amount of plaintiff’s claim.”

[204]*204It is not disputed that plaintiff had earlier released A. V. Abbott from her obligation for attorney’s fees created by the contract by accepting $2,500.00 in settlement. It is not disputed that the case was ripe and ready for disposition by summary judgment.

In making the dispositive ruling the trial court cited Feiner’s Organization v. Caf-fina, Fla.1955, 77 So.2d 852. This ruling was buttressed with the court’s comment in its order denying plaintiff’s petition for rehearing, as follows:

“Plaintiff contends in effect that defendant, through various machinations to avoid payment of attorney’s fees owed to plaintiff, became unjustly enriched. Assuming this to be true, ar-guendo, it still must be recognized that defendant’s liability for the lien sought is dependent upon his liability for the contractual debt secured by the lien. Defendant’s alleged rascality and evil intention to escape from his just obligations do not operate to render him liable or, more properly, cause him to remain liable, for a debt from which he became legally discharged through act of the plaintiff.”

From the foregoing the essential question is discerned. Did plaintiff’s release of A. V. Abbott from her obligation under the contract operate as a matter of law to release defendant from his obligation under the agreement to pay plaintiff’s legal fees? We answer this question in the affirmative.

In the Feiner’s case, supra, plaintiff, a broker, was contacted by X, who promised to pay plaintiff $150,000 if plaintiff could find a purchaser for X’s stock. Plaintiff did sell the stock for X to Y, with Y orally guaranteeing that plaintiff would receive his broker’s commission when the deal was complete. Subsequently, plaintiff released Y. Plaintiff’s cause of action was brought in the alternative, — in tort on the basis that defendants unlawfully conspired to defraud plaintiff of his money, and in contract for breach of contract.

The Supreme Court held:

1. No recovery on the tort theory, — the release of one joint tortfeasor releases the rest.
2. “If it was a contract whereby both buyers and sellers became primarily jointly liable to the plaintiff for the full amount of the commission, the release would bar the present claim absolutely, under the familiar principle, adhered to by the great majority of the courts, that a release of one joint contract obligor releases all.”
3. However, if Y was merely a guarantor, the release of one secondarily liable to a contract does not release the party primarily liable.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
233 So. 2d 201, 1970 Fla. App. LEXIS 6660, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/flowers-v-miskoff-fladistctapp-1970.