State ex rel. Metsch v. Traeger

District Court of Appeal of Florida

State ex rel. Metsch v. Traeger

834 So. 2d 877, 2002 Fla. App. LEXIS 16061, 2002 WL 31466459

CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida

DecidedNovember 6, 2002

DocketNo. 3D02-2094

StatusPublished

This text of 834 So. 2d 877 (State ex rel. Metsch v. Traeger) 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.

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State ex rel. Metsch v. Traeger, 834 So. 2d 877, 2002 Fla. App. LEXIS 16061, 2002 WL 31466459 (Fla. Ct. App. 2002).

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Opinion

PER CURIAM.

Petitioners Lawrence R. Metsch and Daniel L. Metsch seek a writ of prohibition to prevent the trial court judge from presiding over the case subsequent to the judge’s appointment to serve as a referee in a disciplinary action before the Florida Bar and filed against respondent Pamela Traeger’s counsel below. We deny the petition. Canon 3(E)(1), Florida Code of Judicial Conduct, requires that a judge disqualify himself or herself in a proceeding in which the judge’s impartiality might reasonably be questioned. See Tower Group, Inc. v. Doral Enters. Joint Ventures, 760 So.2d 256 (Fla. 3d DCA 2000) (disqualification appropriate where attorney had been the trial judge’s opponent in acrimonious re-election campaign); Town Centre of Islamorada, Inc. v. Overby, 592 So.2d 774 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992) (extrajudicial dispute between counsel and the trial judge warranted disqualification). Generally, the trial court judge’s duties as a referee in a disciplinary action filed against an attorney would be insufficient grounds for disqualification unless it can be shown that “the judge has a personal bias or prejudice concerning a party or a party’s lawyer[.]” Fla.Code Jud. Conduct, Canon 3E(1)(a). See 5-H Corp. v. Padovano, 708 So.2d 244, 248 (Fla.1997). This case is further removed because it is respondent’s counsel, not the petitioners’ counsel, who has the pending disciplinary proceeding.

We therefore deny the petition.

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PER CURIAM.

Petitioners Lawrence R. Metsch and Daniel L. Metsch seek a writ of prohibition to prevent the trial court judge from presiding over the case subsequent to the judge’s appointment to serve as a referee in a disciplinary action before the Florida Bar and filed against respondent Pamela Traeger’s counsel below. We deny the petition. Canon 3(E)(1), Florida Code of Judicial Conduct, requires that a judge disqualify himself or herself in a proceeding in which the judge’s impartiality might reasonably be questioned. See Tower Group, Inc. v. Doral Enters. Joint Ventures, 760 So.2d 256 (Fla. 3d DCA 2000) (disqualification appropriate where attorney had been the trial judge’s opponent in acrimonious re-election campaign); Town Centre of Islamorada, Inc. v. Overby, 592 So.2d 774 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992) (extrajudicial dispute between counsel and the trial judge warranted disqualification). Generally, the trial court judge’s duties as a referee in a disciplinary action filed against an attorney would be insufficient grounds for disqualification unless it can be shown that “the judge has a personal bias or prejudice concerning a party or a party’s lawyer[.]” Fla.Code Jud. Conduct, Canon 3E(1)(a). See 5-H Corp. v. Padovano, 708 So.2d 244, 248 (Fla.1997). This case is further removed because it is respondent’s counsel, not the petitioners’ counsel, who has the pending disciplinary proceeding.

We therefore deny the petition.

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834 So. 2d 877, 2002 Fla. App. LEXIS 16061, 2002 WL 31466459, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-metsch-v-traeger-fladistctapp-2002.

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