Elsawaf v. Elsawaf
On the morning of trial in a dissolution case, the trial court granted defense counsel's motion to withdraw (emailed roughly 20 hours earlier for nonpayment/irreconcilable differences) and then denied the newly pro se party's request for a continuance. The Fifth DCA held this violated due process, adopting the Second District's reasoning in Garden v. Garden that under Rule 4-1.16(b)-(c) a court may — and here should have — required tardily withdrawing counsel to continue representation; the judgment was reversed except for the dissolution itself and remanded for a new trial.
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