CIKLIN, J.
The appellant (the plaintiff below), Arch Specialty Insurance Company ("Arch Specialty"), appeals the final summary judgment entered in favor of the appellee law firm Kubicki Draper, LLP ("Kubicki"), after the trial court denied Arch Specialty's motion to amend its complaint to correct its name. We find the trial court erred in denying the motion to amend for two reasons. First, the mistake in the naming of the plaintiff was a misnomer and the parties were all aware of the true identity of the party bringing suit. Second, Kubicki's summary judgment submissions show identities of interests between the incorrectly named plaintiff and the plaintiff that should have been named. Accordingly, we reverse and remand for further proceedings. We decline to address the portion of the appeal challenging the award of attorneys' fees as the trial court did not set an amount of fees; thus, the issue is not ripe for review. Winkelman v. Toll, 632 So.2d 130 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994).
Arch Specialty brought suit against Kubicki for legal malpractice and alleged the following.
In an underlying action, Kubicki defended an accounting firm in a civil action for accounting malpractice. In accordance with the terms of the contract of insurance entered into between Arch Specialty and its insured (the accounting firm), Arch Specialty retained Kubicki to provide legal counsel and representation to the accounting
In 2012, almost five years after the settlement agreement was entered,
Kubicki attached supportive exhibits to its motion which showed that Arch Insurance was the entity that insured the accounting firm and paid the settlement — not Arch Specialty. The exhibits also showed that Arch Insurance and Arch Specialty were incorporated in different states.
One of the exhibits was Arch Specialty's application to transact business in Florida. The application's cover letter provided that Arch Specialty is a "member of Arch Insurance Group." In another exhibit, insurance policy information regarding the accounting firm was on letterhead with the heading "Arch Insurance Group," followed by the subheading "Arch Insurance Company." In fact, the exhibits reflect that Arch Insurance and Arch Specialty had some common directors and the same secretary with both companies using the same address in New York City. That address was also Arch Specialty's mailing address and the address provided for most of Arch Insurance and Arch Specialty's officers and directors. In other words, a "clear identity of interest" existed.
Arch Specialty requested leave to amend to reflect the correct name for the plaintiff. The court effectively denied the motion when it granted summary judgment for Kubicki, finding that "[t]here is no issue of fact that the Plaintiff, Arch Specialty Insurance Company, is the incorrect party to these proceedings and did not itself suffer any of the losses claimed." The court held that there was no record evidence that Arch Specialty and Arch Insurance were the same company. The court concluded that "when the correct party is incorrectly named the matter may be resolved simply under the doctrine of misnomer but when the incorrect party is correctly named, the remedy is substitution of parties." The court ultimately entered final summary judgment for Kubicki.
On appeal, Arch Specialty argues the trial court abused its discretion by denying the motion to amend where Arch Specialty merely sought to correct a misnomer, and where even a substitution of parties would
The entry of a summary judgment is reviewed de novo. Everett Painting Co. v. Padula & Wadsworth Constr., Inc., 856 So.2d 1059, 1061 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003) (citations omitted). "The standard of review applicable to a motion to amend a complaint ... is abuse of discretion." G.B. Holdings, Inc. v. Steinhauser, 862 So.2d 97, 99 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003) (citations omitted). A trial court's denial of a motion to amend to substitute parties is also reviewed for an abuse of discretion. Estate of Eisen v. Philip Morris USA, Inc., 126 So.3d 323, 327 (Fla. 3d DCA 2013) (citations omitted).
Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.190 governs amendments to pleadings. Paragraphs (c) and (e) are relevant here and provide the following:
"It is well-settled that the rule permitting amendments to pleadings, and the relation-back doctrine, are to be liberally construed and applied." Eisen, 126 So.3d at 328 (citations omitted). In 1956, the Florida Supreme Court recognized that the rules of civil procedure were more liberal than the common law with respect to amended pleadings. Cabot v. Clearwater Constr. Co., 89 So.2d 662, 663-64 (Fla.1956). Further, the pleadings and the trial are intended to "arrive at the truth," rather than to engage in a game in which the "technique of the maneuver captures the prize." Id. at 664. "The general rule is: `An amendment which merely corrects a misnomer might well relate back to the date the complaint was originally filed but this relation back rule is inapplicable where the effect is to bring new parties into the suit.'" Francese v. Tamarac Hosp. Corp., 504 So.2d 546, 547 (Fla. 4th DCA 1987) (citation omitted).
In Cabot, the complaint named as the defendant a nonexistent corporation, "Clearwater Construction Company," instead of the individual who owned the unincorporated company, "Robert M. Snyder, doing business as Clearwater Construction Company, not incorporated." Id. at 663. The trial court denied the plaintiff's motion to amend to name the correct defendant and dismissed the complaint. Id. On appeal, the Florida Supreme Court found that an amendment under these circumstances did not constitute a new cause of action barred by the statute of limitations. Id. at 664-65. The court reasoned that the cause of action would remain the same and that the mistake was merely one of characterization or description of the defendant. Id. at 665.
Here, the named plaintiff and the plaintiff that should have technically been
Although Arch Specialty inserted an incorrect plaintiff name in its original complaint, there is no doubt that the identity of the intended plaintiff was the insurance company which came out of pocket to pay the agreed settlement amount. Arch Specialty sought merely to correctly name it. Allowing the amendment would not prejudice Kubicki because the cause of action would still squarely center on the alleged malpractice associated with Kubicki's representation of the accounting firm.
Kubicki argues an amendment cannot relate back based on identity of interest if the failure to name the correct party is due to inexcusable neglect. The cases relied upon by Kubicki are factually distinguishable
Given all of the circumstances discussed herein, we find the trial court erred in denying the motion to amend and entering summary judgment for Kubicki.
Reversed and remanded for further proceedings.
STEVENSON and KLINGENSMITH, JJ., concur.