WEST PALM BEACH – Issues in lengthy litigation about real estate holdings involving a plaintiff who lives abroad were recently resolved in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
Renewed motions for reconsideration of the case made by German plaintiff Dietmar Dude were denied by U.S. Magistrate Judge William Matthewman on July 16.
The ruling extended to granting in part the motions of the defendant Congress Plaza LLC, based in Fort Lauderdale, for sanctions against the Dude as well as an award of attorneys’ fees, taking into account the long, “unnecessarily acrimonious” nature of the lawsuit. Both parties have a litigation history of over 10 years in both state and federal courts.
Matthewman ruled in favor of Congress Plaza as a result of the plaintiff’s inability or unwillingness to give his deposition or to participate in mediation of the case previously ordered by the court.
This current case, filed in December 2016 in state court and later moved to federal court, never made it to the court-ordered mandatory mediation because the plaintiff repeatedly failed to show up for the requested depositions in the United States, court filings said. Citing various reasons for not making the depositions, including health reports from doctors in Germany with recommendations not to fly and a claim that Dude lacked understanding of the facts surrounding the case, Dude repeatedly filed last-minute motions to delay his in-person depositions. At one point, he requested that his niece and brother, both non-parties, be present in his stead.
Having translated all doctors’ documents and finding the recommendations vague and contradictory based on Dude’s past actions, as well as taking into consideration the plaintiff’s failed compliance with four court orders, the court ruled in favor of the defendants’ request for attorneys’ fees and associated costs.
The judge also ruled that plaintiff’s counsel, Aldo Beltrano, will not face financial sanctions for attorneys’ fees and legal costs.
The court ruled that while it was not pleased with Beltrano’s behavior regarding the handling of his client’s last-minute motions, it was understood that Beltrano’s client seemed a difficult one. Matthewman ascertained that Beltrano’s actions were not those of willful misconduct, but negligence.