11 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 477d
Insurance — Personal injury protection — Dismissal — Failure to prosecute — Order transferring case due to improper venue constitutes sufficient record activity to deny motion to dismiss
PETER MERKLE, M.D., P.A., Plaintiff, vs. PROGRESSIVE CASUALTY INSURANCE COMPANY, Defendant. County Court, 17th Judicial Circuit in and for Broward County. Case No. 03-6382 COSO (62). March 12, 2004. Robert W. Lee, Judge. Counsel: Alejandro M. Garcia, Fort Lauderdale, for Plaintiff. Stephen M. Rosansky, Fort Lauderdale, for Defendant.
ORDER DENYING DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO DISMISS
THIS CAUSE came before the Court on March 12, 2004 for hearing of the Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss, and the Court’s having reviewed the Motion and entire Court file, and having made a thorough review of the matters filed of record; having heard argument; and having reviewed the relevant legal authorities; it is
ORDERED and ADJUDGED that the Motion is hereby DENIED. The Defendant claims that this cause should be dismissed due to lack of record activity for more than a year pursuant to Rule 1.420(e), Fla. R. Civ. P. The only matter of record during the year in question is an Order entered by the Honorable Raphael Steinhardt, Miami-Dade County Court, transferring this cause to Broward County as the result of improper venue. The Plaintiff claims that such an Order is not “an affirmative act directed toward disposition of the case.” This Court disagrees. See Fisher v. Rodgers, 496 So.2d 241, 242 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986) (administrative order transferring case from one judge to another constitutes sufficient record activity); Nektaredes v. Sagonias, 432 So.2d 769, 770 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983) (recusal order and reassignment to another judge constitutes sufficient record activity). This Court construes the transfer of venue order to be analogous to the transfer orders entered in the Fisher and Nektaredes cases.
The Defendant shall file an Answer to the Complaint within 15 days.
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