Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Florida
Can an attorney appear telephonically at a hearing?
This is a hearing on a Motion for Final Judgement,presented to the court 1 year after the original motion on the same issue was dismissed by a since retired Judge. I have filed a Motion for Dismissal but have received no response from the Court on that motion. The hearing notice I have received states the Plaintiff will appear telephonically. Have I the right to require his appearance and does res judicata apply to this even though this was dismissed
without prejudice?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Can an attorney appear telephonically at a hearing?
A party can bring the same motion on a case, even if the motion was dismissed a year ago. It is not what the motion is titled, it's what's in the motion. If the plaintiff pleads a different theory under which he believes he is entitled to a judgment, the Court will likely hear it. It's also possible the Court record is incomplete, in which case the present judge may not know about the previous motion. If you want your motion heard, you need to schedule it for a hearing. Call the judicial assistant for the judge and ask her if you can have your motion heard at the same time as the plaintiff's motion.
You can object to the plaintiff appearing by telephone, but why? His appearance by phone will probably not damage your case in any way, shape, matter or form, but you have every right to object. Don't wait, though. And your reasons need to be good solid ones, not "just because I don't think it's fair" reasons.