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. 3D21-0485
Lower Tribunal No. 20-12061
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Evelyn Kurland,
Appellant,
vs.
The Hamilton Law Firm, PL, etc.,
Appellee.
An Appeal from a non-final order from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade
County, Carlos Lopez, Judge.
Ross & Girten, and Lauri Waldman Ross; Moraitis & Raimondi, LLP,
and Robert J. Moraitis, and Peter M. Raimondi (Ft. Lauderdale), for
appellant.
Dorta & Ortega P.A., and Omar Ortega and Natalie A. Ferral, for
appellee.
Before EMAS, C.J., and LINDSEY, and LOBREE, JJ.
PER CURIAM.
1
Evelyn Kurland, appellant/defendant below, appeals an order denying
her motion to transfer venue to the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit in and for
Broward County under principles of priority or on the basis of a forum
selection clause in the retainer agreement between the parties. The order
also denied her motion to stay the proceedings pending disposition of the
charging lien filed in the Broward action by the Hamilton Law Firm,
appellee/plaintiff below. Without reaching either the issue regarding
whether this action should be transferred to Broward or the enforceability of
the forum selection clause, on the undisputed facts of this case, we treat
the appeal of the order denying the motion to stay as a petition for writ of
certiorari and quash the order. See Sorena v. Gerald J. Tobin, P.A., 47 So.
3d 875, 876 (Fla. 3d DCA 2010) (“Because we find that this action involves
both substantially similar parties and substantially similar issues as are
involved in the earlier-filed action, we grant the petition for certiorari and
quash the trial court's order denying a stay of proceedings.”).
2