Rule 1.420 Florida Rules of Civil Procedure - Dismissing a Case for Lack of Prosecution

In Moossun v. Orlando Regional Health Care, etc., 826 So.2d 945 (Fla. 2002), the majority applied the rule established in Toney v. Freeman, 600 So.2d 1099 (Fla. 1992), that a status order is not sufficient "record activity" to preclude dismissal of a case for lack of prosecution under rule 1.420(e) of the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, to instances in which case management conferences -- not just status reports -- had been ordered. See Moossun, 826 So.2d at 946. Judge Lewis dissented in Moossun because of the meaningful distinction that exists between a mere status request and an order setting a case for conference. Moossun, 826 So.2d at 952 (Lewis, J., dissenting). As the Court explained in the dissenting opinion, a status request constitutes an attempt by the ordering court to manage its docket, whereas a case management conference is calculated to " 'hasten the suit to judgment' " as required by Toney as it provides a venue to take any number of aggressive, substantive actions, from expediting discovery to pursuing settlement options to the entry of judgment. See id. at 952 (Lewis, J., dissenting) (quoting Toney, 600 So.2d at 1100).