the Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed this Courts ruling and certified conflict with the Third District Court of Appeals decision in Wolfe The Fourth District Court of Appeal issued its Mandate on December and on December Epstein filed his Notice of Discretionary Jurisdiction seeking review by the Florida Supreme Court On December the Florida Supreme Court filed an Order stating that the proceedings in this Court in the above case are hereby stayed pending disposition of Debrincat Fischer Case No which is pending in this Court Debrincat is the lead case in which the Florida Supreme Court will decide the certified conflict issue On or about March Epstein filed a Motion to Stay Proceedings or Alternative Motion to Continue the Trial Date Set in this Matter On or about March this Court denied Epsteins Motion without prejudice stating that if there was movement on the Debrincat Fischer matter then it would entertain this Motion Since the March hearing date the Debrincat case has been fully briefed and Oral Argument has been set before the Florida Supreme Court on the Debrincat case for August A true and correct copy of the Order granting and setting Oral Argument is attached hereto as Exhibit A Accordingly as demonstrated more fully below staying these proceedings until such time as the Florida Supreme Court issues its decision regarding the conflict between the Third District Court of Appeals decision in Wolfe and the Fourth District Court of Appeals decision in the case at bench will both conserve judicial resources and prevent interference with the jurisdiction of the appellate court Tonja Haddad P.A SE th Street Fort Lauderdale FL MEMORANDUM OF LAW This Court has the authority and discretion to grant Epsteins Motion Gas Investments Land Sun Realty Ltd So 2d Fla 4th DCA The granting of a stay of proceedings by a trial court pending the outcome of an action in another court is in the broad discretion of the trial court Ricigliano Peat Marwick Main Co So 2d Fla 4th DCA However this discretionary power is not without limitation The stay should be granted unless there are special circumstances such as undue delay by the first court that warrant the denial of a stay Thus absent any such special circumstances a trial court abuses its discretion in refusing to grant a stay based on the principle of priority Spacebox Dover LLC LSREF2 Baron LLC So 3d Fla 2d DCA See also Fedorov Citizens State Bank So 3d Fla 3d DCA In the case at hand it is proper for this Court to grant Epsteins Motion to Stay or Continue this matter while the Florida Supreme Court is considering an issue that involves the same issues as those with which these same parties are faced Bergman Kaplan So 2d Fla 4th DCA In Bergman the Fourth District Court of Appeal found that the trial court had departed from the essential requirements of the law in denying the Petitioners motion to stay the proceedings when there was a pending appeal from an order that involved the same parties and issue Id The Bergman court further opined that in these types of cases courts have recognized the injurious affect of multiple conflicting orders and the need for the circuit courts not to interfere with the jurisdiction of the courts of appeal when issues are then pending before them Id at See also Allstate Ins Co Titusville Total Health Care So 2d Fla 5th Tonja Haddad P.A SE th Street Fort Lauderdale FL DCA Courts have often held that it is appropriate for one court to stay an action in order to avoid a waste of judicial resources if a similar issue is pending in another action and will be dispositive Solomon Gordon So 2d Fla Where two actions are pending between the same parties involving the same state of facts and aiming to accomplish substantially the same result the court may stay proceedings in the latter action until the other shall have been heard and decided and the same rule applies where the prior action is pending on appeal Pilevsky Morgans Hotel Group Mgmt LLC So 2d Fla 3d DCA The Fourth District Court of Appeals decision to reject the applicability of the Litigation Privilege to Edwards Malicious Prosecution claim against Epstein in the instant case is the sole appellate issue pending in the Florida Supreme Court The Florida Supreme Court stayed those proceedings pending its disposition of the appeal in Debrincat regarding the conflicting opinions of the District Courts of Appeal as to the applicability of the Litigation Privilege to a Malicious Prosecution claim Irrefutably the Florida Supreme Courts resolution of that conflict which is the same issue upon which both the Fourth District Court of Appeals decision and this Courts granting of Summary Judgment herein were based may dispose of the central issue of Epsteins liability in the case at hand Consequently it would be a waste of judicial resources to proceed to trial prior to the Supreme Courts resolution of this issue CONCLUSION For all of the reasons above and in reliance upon the case law cited above Epstein respectfully requests that this Court enter an Order Staying these proceedings until such time as the Florida Supreme Court renders its decision and such further and Tonja Haddad P.A SE th Street Fort Lauderdale FL other relief as this Court deems just and proper WE HEREBY CERTIFY that a true and correct copy of the foregoing was served upon all parties listed below via Electronic Service this May Isl Tonia Haddad Coleman Tonja Haddad Coleman Esq Fla Bar No LAW OFFICES OF TONJA HADDAD PA SE th Street Suite Fort Lauderdale Florida facsimile Tonj a tonjahaddad.com Tonja Haddad P.A SE th Street Fort Lauderdale FL SERVICE LIST CASE NO Jack Scarola Esq jsx searcylaw.com mep searcylaw.com Searcy Denney Scarola et al Palm Beach Lakes Blvd West Palm Beach FL Jack Goldberger Esq jgoldberger agwpa.com smahoney agwpa.com Atterbury Goldberger Weiss PA Australian Ave South Suite West Palm Beach FL Marc Nurik Esq marc nuriklaw.com East Broward Blvd Suite Fort Lauderdale FL Bradley Edwards Esq brad pathtojustice.com Farmer Jaffe Weissing Edwards Fistos Lehrman Andrews A venue Suite Fort Lauderdale Florida Fred Haddad Esq Dee FredHaddadLaw.com Fred Haddad PA Financial Plaza Suite Fort Lauderdale FL Tonja Haddad Coleman Esquire Tonja tonjahaddad.com efiling tonjahaddad.com Law Offices of Tonja Haddad P.A SE 7th Street Suite Fort Lauderdale FL William King Esq eservice searcylaw.com wbk searcylaw.com Searcy Denney Scarola et al Palm Beach Lakes Blvd West Palm Beach FL Burlington Rockenbach P.A jew FLAppellateLaw.com Courthouse Commons Suite West Railroad A venue West Palm Beach FL Tonja Haddad P.A SE th Street Fort Lauderdale FL Paul Morris Esq Paulappeal gmail.com Law Offices of Paul Morris P.A Dixie Highway Suite Miami FL Tel Fax Tonja Haddad P.A SE th Street Fort Lauderdale FL Filing E-Filed PM upreme Court of jflorfba TUESDAY APRIL RICHARD DEBRINCAT A A 4A E0 A4 DE a qr?q rq qrCX HhL Kg lg d?a d6U a M3 flW y??S m/y t0 I F/Z V/j 1a qC KS u?v vZ O5 a qr 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