40 Fla. L. Weekly D2045a
Civil procedure — Bifurcation of proceedings — Because all claims and defenses arose from single set of intertwined facts, and resolving limited issues would not tend to resolve the whole case, but would create risk of inconsistent verdicts by two different triers of fact, bifurcation order quashed
ROCKET GROUP, LLC and ROCKET MATTER, LLC, Petitioners, v. ARIEL JATIB, Respondent. 4th District. Case No. 4D15-1340. September 2, 2015. Petition for writ of certiorari to the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, Palm Beach County; Gregory M. Keyser, Judge; L.T. Case No. 50-2012CA4998 MB (AD). Counsel: Peter J. Sosin of Sosin Law, PLLC, Boca Raton, for petitioners. Jeremy D. Friedman of The Downs Law Group, P.A., Coconut Grove, for respondent.
(PER CURIAM.) Petitioners seek certiorari review of a non-final order which partially granted the plaintiff/respondent’s motion to bifurcate. Certiorari is an appropriate remedy in this case. See Minty v. Meister Financialgroup, Inc., 97 So. 3d 926, 931 (Fla. 4th DCA 2012). Especially with the court’s decision to bifurcate and try the issue of whether cause existed to terminate the plaintiff, all claims and defenses in this case arose from a single set of intertwined facts, starting with the formation of the companies and ending with respondent’s termination. Resolving the limited issues would not tend to resolve the whole case, but would create the risk of inconsistent verdicts by two different triers of fact. We therefore grant the petition and quash the bifurcation order. See Minty, 97 So. 3d at 931; Maris Distrib. Co. v. Anheuser-Busch, Inc., 710 So. 2d 1022, 1024-25 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998); Bethany Evangelical Covenant Church of Miami, Fla., Inc. v. Calandra, 994 So. 2d 478, 479 (Fla. 3d DCA 2008). (GROSS, TAYLOR and GERBER, JJ., concur.)
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