MIKHAIL BORISOVICH BELYAK v. LAKE HOLDING & FINANCE S.A.

Opinion

Third District Court of Appeal State of Florida

Opinion filed May 19, 2021.

Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.

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No. 3D21-0934

Lower Tribunal No. 19-35235

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Mikhail Borisovich Belyak, Petitioner,

vs.

Lake Holding & Finance S.A., Respondent.

A Writ of Certiorari to the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, William Thomas, Judge.

Akerman LLP, and Christopher S. Carver (Fort Lauderdale), and Gerald B. Cope, Jr., and Kristen M. Fiore, BCS (Tallahassee), and Erica Gomer (Fort Lauderdale), for petitioner.

Assouline & Berlowe, P.A. and Eric N. Assouline, and Greg M.

Popowitz, for respondent.

Before MILLER, LOBREE, and BOKOR, JJ.

MILLER, J.

Petitioner, Mikhail Borisovich Belyak, seeks certiorari relief from post-

decretal orders compelling discovery. After granting recognition to a series of Russian money judgments against Belyak, the trial court issued orders requiring compliance with certain requests for financial discovery. Belyak has separately appealed the recognition orders, asserting, among other grounds, the trial court lacked in personam jurisdiction over him. The appeals have yet to be resolved, thus, bound by our precedent in Far Out Music, Inc. v. Jordan, 438 So. 2d 912 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983), we grant the petition and quash the orders under review. See also Ward v. Gibson, 340 So. 2d 481, 483 (Fla. 3d DCA 1976) ("[T]he court erred in denying defendant's motion to quash service upon his attorney of the notice of taking deposition prior to a determination of the interlocutory appeal challenging the jurisdiction of the trial court to proceed against the defendant in the cause.”).

Petition granted.