Randle-Eastern Ambulance Service v. Vasta

Under the rules governing trial practice in Florida, a plaintiff may voluntarily dismiss his or her lawsuit at practically any time during the course of trial simply by announcing that fact.1 The effect of doing so is to terminate the litigation instantaneously, without prejudice however to plaintiff's commencing a wholly new lawsuit against the same defendant if the right to do so has not been exercised before and is not barred by the statute of limitations. The Third District Court of Appeal recently considered what would happen if a plaintiff who had taken a voluntary dismissal later realized that the opportunity to relitigate with the defendant was foreclosed, and attempted to correct the earlier tactical error by asking the trial judge for permission to be relieved of the dismissal. The district court held that plaintiff could be relieved of her dismissal,2 although it recognized that the Fourth District Court of Appeal had come to the opposite conclusion some six years earlier.3 At the aggrieved defendant's request, we granted certiorari to review the district court's decision in order to reconcile the conflicting appellate decisions.4 Subsequent to the submission of the case here, the First District Court of Appeal rejected the view espoused by the Third District and adopted the view of the Fourth District.5