Appealing Entitlement to Attorney’s Fees
After a party prevails in a lawsuit, the next issue to consider is attorney’s fees, and this is oftentimes a driving issue because attorney’s fees can be fairly significant depending on the nature of the dispute. For example, assume you lost a trial and the other side moved for attorney’s fees. You challenged entitlement to attorney’s fees and lost – the trial court granted the other side’s motion for attorney’s fees. An evidentiary hearing was held and an attorney’s fees judgment was entered. Alternatively, assume you moved for attorney’s fees and the trial court denied your motion. Are these issues relating to entitlement to attorney’s fees appealable? Yes.
“‘A party’s entitlement to an award of attorney’s fees under a statute or procedural rule is a legal question subject to de novo review.’” Newman v. Guerra, 2017 WL 33702 (Fla. 4th DCA 2017) quoting Nathanson v. Morelli, 169 So.3d 259, 260 (Fla. 4th DCA 2015).
For instance, in a recent case, an owner established that a contractor’s lien was fraudulent. The contractor, however, prevailed in its breach of contract claim. The owner moved for his entitlement to statutory attorney’s fees since he prevailed in the contractor’s lien action. The trial court denied the owner’s motion for attorney’s fees because after considering all of the claims asserted in the case found that the contractor prevailed on the significant issues in the case. The owner appealed the trial court’s denial and this issue was subject to a de novo standard of appellate review.
Please contact David Adelstein at [email protected] or (954) 361-4720 if you have questions or would like more information regarding this article. You can follow David Adelstein on Twitter @DavidAdelstein1.
