Ludeca, Inc. v. Alignment and Condition Monitoring, Inc.
The Third DCA granted mandamus to compel a trial court to remove a case from the trial docket because the filing of a compulsory counterclaim reopened the pleadings, divesting the case of its 'at issue' status and violating rule 1.440's mandatory fifty-day minimum interval between the last pleading and trial. It also granted certiorari to quash an order severing the compulsory trade-secret counterclaim from the declaratory relief action, holding the inextricably intertwined claims could not be bifurcated.
Key facts
- Ludeca, Inc. filed a declaratory relief action against Alignment and Condition Monitoring, Inc.; the defendant filed a compulsory counterclaim asserting trade secret misappropriation.
- The trial court set the case for trial without allowing the fifty-day minimum interval required by rule 1.440 after the counterclaim reopened the pleadings, and granted an order severing the counterclaim from the main action.
- +2 more key facts with a free trial
Why it matters
The opinion provides a reusable roadmap for two frequently litigated interlocutory issues: using mandamus (rather than waiting for appeal) to enforce rule 1.440's mandatory at-issue and fifty-day trial-setting… — full analysis with a trial
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