11 February

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Timely Filing Motion for Attorney’s Fees and Costs

Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.525 provides: Any party seeking a judgment taxing costs, fees, or both shall serve a motion no later than 30 days after filing of the judgment, including a judgment of dismissal, or the service of a notice of voluntary dismissal, which judgment or notice concludes the action as to that party. This is a specific statutory time period and a motion for rehearing does NOT toll this 30 day period. Jackson v. Anthony, 39 So.3d 1285, 1286 (Fla. 1st DCA 2010). This means that a motion for a final judgment taxing attorney’s fees and costs must be made...

03 February

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A Contractual Waiver of the Right to Challenge Venue is Enforceable

Posted by David Adelstein

in Trial Perspectives

Many contracts contain a forum selection provision or a venue provision. Contracts may even contain language that parties agree not to challenge or otherwise waive the venue of any filed lawsuit. An example of such a provision was included in an operating agreement: This Agreement is to be construed and governed by the laws of the State of Florida (without giving effect to principles of conflicts of laws). Each party hereto irrevocably agrees that any legal action or proceeding arising out of or in connection with this Agreement may be brought in any state or federal court located in Florida (or in...

29 January

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Impeachment as to Prior Crimes in Civil Trials

Posted by David Adelstein

in Evidence, Trial Perspectives

In a civil trial, I want to attack (impeach) the credibility of a testifying witness by bringing up a crime that witness committed. Can I do this? When it comes to impeaching the credibility of a witness based on crimes, Florida Statute s. 90.610 states in material part: (1) A party may attack the credibility of any witness, including an accused, by evidence that the witness has been convicted of a crime if the crime was punishable by death or imprisonment in excess of 1 year under the law under which the witness was convicted, or if the crime involved dishonesty or...

17 January

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Quick Note: So You Want to Appeal an Injunction Entered Against You…

Posted by David Adelstein

in Appeal

So you want to appeal the issuance of an injunction entered against you. (There are numerous reasons why injunctive relief may be entered by the court in a civil context - check out this article as an example.) “If the injunction rests on factual findings, then a trial court's order must be affirmed absent an abuse of discretion; but if the injunction rests on purely legal matters, then an injunction is reviewed de novo.” Nipper v. Walton County, Florida, 42 Fla. L. Weekly D171a (Fla. 1st DCA 2017). Stated differently, there is an abuse of discretion standard of appellate review...

13 January

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Do I or Do I Not File a Reply to Affirmative Defenses?

Posted by David Adelstein

in Trial Perspectives

I’ll be the first to tell you that I seldom file a reply to affirmative defenses unless I am truly looking to avoid an affirmative defense – I have a defense to the defense. When I do file a reply, it is typically specific and catered to a specific defense (again, a specific defense to a specific affirmative defense). This is an important consideration and not filing a reply and specifically avoiding a defense (when you have a defense to the defense) can be problematic as an insured recently found out in an insurance coverage dispute. Thus, if you have an...

08 January

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Appealing Entitlement to Attorney’s Fees

Posted by David Adelstein

in Appeal

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...

01 January

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Quick Note: An Ambiguous Agreement will Lead to Admissibility of Parol Evidence

Posted by David Adelstein

in Trial Perspectives

In an earlier article I explained that parol evidence (extrinsic evidence) is inadmissible to determine the intent of an unambiguous agreement. The corollary is that parol evidence is admissible to determine the intent of an ambiguous agreement. Naturally, parties want their agreements to be clear—crystal clear—to avoid any argument regarding an ambiguity. For example, in a recent case, a commercial lease was deemed ambiguous regarding the tenant’s lease rate. As a result, the landlord could not ram its commercial eviction claim through the court due to what it claimed to be the tenant not paying the right lease rate. Instead, evidence needed...

24 December

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Recoverability of Expert Witness Fees in Federal Court

Posted by David Adelstein

in Trial Perspectives

Many litigants are unaware that testifying expert costs are not automatically recoverable in federal court like they are in state court. Expert witness fees / costs are not an automatic taxable costs. 28 U.S.C. s. 1920 discusses taxable costs. 28 U.S.C. s. 1821 discusses a witness’ per diem costs of $40/day for each day’s attendance. See 28 U.S.C. 1821(2)(b) (“A witness shall be paid an attendance fee of $40 per day for each day's attendance. A witness shall also be paid the attendance fee for the time necessarily occupied in going to and returning from the place of attendance at the...

12 December

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(Extract on) Business Judgment Rule

Posted by David Adelstein

in Trial Perspectives

Directors that serve on a board owe a fiduciary duty to their company and members. Directors are generally protected from personal liability for decisions they make by what is known as the business judgment rule. See Fla. Stat. s. 607.0830 (“(5) A director is not liable for any action taken as a director, or any failure to take any action, if he or she performed the duties of his or her office in compliance with this section.”); see also Florida Statute s. 617.0834 (regarding directors that serve on a nonprofit board). These are very important statutes (607.0830 and 617.0834) for...

25 November

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Trial Court’s Responsibility is NOT to Rewrite a Contract

Posted by David Adelstein

in Appeal

Many business disputes involve the interpretation and the application of a contract. This is because business transactions typically involve a contractual relationship governing the rights, liabilities, risks, and recourse relating to the transaction. When there is a dispute regarding the transaction, this gives rise to a breach of contract claim. It is important to understand that a trial court’s responsibility is NOT to rewrite the terms of a contract so that the risks are allocated differently. As explained: [C]ourts are ‘powerless to rewrite [a] contract to make it more reasonable or advantageous to one of the parties…or to substitute [their] judgments for...

Author: David Adelstein