Good Cause Show and Record Activity As Steps for Dismissal for Lack to Prosecute

In Metropolitan Dade County v. Hall, the Supreme Court of Florida reviewed Hall v. Metropolitan Dade County, 760 So. 2d 1051 (Fla. 3d DCA 2000), which this Court has certified to be in conflict with Levine v. Kaplan, 687 So. 2d 863 (Fla. 5th DCA 1997), and Smith v. DeLoach, 556 So. 2d 786 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990). In Hall, the defendant had deposed the plaintiff during the year preceding the filing of the motion to dismiss. The plaintiff had also served an offer of judgment on the defendant. Neither of these had been filed of record. The trial court granted the defendant's motion to dismiss for lack of prosecution; this Court reversed and certified conflict. The supreme court approved this Court's decision and disapproved of Smith and Levine. 784 So. 2d at 1091. In Hall, the Supreme Court of Florida did not have to analyze the first step of the Del Duca test because there was no record activity on the face of the record since neither the offer of judgment nor the depositions taken had been filed of record. Instead, the opinion focused on the second step, the good cause showing. To that end, the court noted that in the absence of record activity, the non-moving party must show good cause to preclude dismissal; it identified the factors from Del Duca as a means of evaluating whether good cause exists. The Court went as far as providing an example of what constitutes sufficient record activity and as such, good cause.