North Port, FL asked in Consumer Law and Contracts for Florida

Q: question about Failure to Prosecute. Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.420 (e).

American Express sued me 1/14/2022 for a personal loan that I had not approved nor requested.

In Feb 2023 AMEX realizing they had a loser case offered to have the case dismissed with prejudice. I agreed to this because I could get derogatory statements removed on my credit report with that info.

But they never followed up in instead they just forgot about the case apparently.

Meanwhile I was begging my current lawyer to do something. But sadly communication with my lawyer was pretty much non existent, maybe a one line response telling me everything was fine to not worry about it.

12/22/22 was the last action by AMEX. In Oct after 11 months had passed with action of any kind I asked my lawyer if we could file for a lack of prosecution. Instead she filed a request for admissions 11/14/2023 they responded 12/11/23 with denials of everything.

My question is does a request for admissions start the clock ticking again or can still I file for Lack of Prosecution

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1 Lawyer Answer
Linda Liang
Linda Liang
Answered
  • Boca Raton, FL
  • Licensed in Florida

A: It seems that your attorney owes you a better explanation. Basically, Mere inaction for a period of less than 1 year

shall not be sufficient cause for dismissal for failure to prosecute. " Fla R. Civ P. 1.420(e) requires a clerk to send a notice of lack of prosecution and wait for 60 days. After no reasonable cause shown, the defendant can move for dismissal for failure to prosecute.

You can either have a strategy talk with your attorney, or opt to work with another attorney.

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