BURTON v. SALZBERG

PER CURIAM.

Affirmed. Defamatory statements made in the course of judicial proceedings are accorded absolute privilege. The privilege arises upon the doing of any act necessarily preliminary to judicial proceedings. See Levin, Middlebrooks, Mabie, Thomas, Mayes Mitchell v. United States Fire Ins. Co., 639 So.2d 606, 607 (Fla. 1994); Ponzoli Wassenberg, P.A. v. Zuckerman, 545 So.2d 309, 309-10 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989); Sussman v. Damian, 355 So.2d 809, 811 (Fla. 3d DCA 1977); 19 Fla. Jur.2d Defamation Privacy § 66 (1980). We agree with the trial judge that the written statement here was made as part of existing litigation between these parties.