SC10-1397 – Daniel DelMonico, et al. v. Arthur Rodgers Traynor, Jr.

State: Florida

Docket No: sc10-1397

Case Date: 02/14/2013

Plaintiff: SC10-1397 – Daniel DelMonico, et al.

Defendant: Arthur Rodgers Traynor, Jr.

Preview:Supreme Court of Florida
____________ No. SC10-1397 ____________ DANIEL DELMONICO, et al., Petitioners, vs. ARTHUR RODGERS TRAYNOR, JR., et al., Respondents. [February 14, 2013] PARIENTE, J. The issue before this Court is whether Florida's absolute privilege, which shields judges, counsel, parties, and witnesses from liability for alleged defamatory statements made in the course of a judicial proceeding, extends to statements made by an attorney during ex-parte, out-of-court questioning of a potential, nonparty witness while investigating matters connected to a pending lawsuit. In DelMonico v. Traynor, 50 So. 3d 4 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010), the Fourth District Court of Appeal relied on this Court's decision in Levin, Middlebrooks, Mabie, Thomas, Mayes & Mitchell, P.A. v. United States Fire Insurance Co., 639 So. 2d 606 (Fla. 1994), to hold that regardless of the circumstances under which an attorney interviews a

potential witness in preparation for pending litigation, statements made during that interview are absolutely privileged if the statements bear some relation to or connection with the pending matter. We have jurisdiction because the Fourth District misapplied this Court's long established precedent, of which Levin is a part, regarding the proper scope of Florida's absolute privilege. See art. V,

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