Draft Agreements with Clarity or…

If you ever want to know why a contract or any agreement should be clearly written, here is the reason. In a recent case, 41 Acquisition Holdings, LLC v. Haff, 48 Fla.L.Weekly D1127a (Fla. 3d DCA 2023), the settlement agreement contained the following language: The court shall retain jurisdiction to enforce this agreement and, an enforcement action or motion, if any, shall be made by the party claiming a breach against the party alleged to have committed the breach and shall not affect any party who is not alleged to have breach this agreement and the prevailing party in any enforcement...

11 April

0 Comments

Sticky

Attorney’s Fees and the “American Rule”

Posted by David Adelstein

in Trial Perspectives

Not every cause of action asserted gives rise to an argument to recover attorney’s fees. Florida follows what is known as the “American Rule” which is “attorney’s fees may be awarded by a court only when authorized by statute or agreement of the parties.” State Farm Fire & Casualty Co v. Palma., 629 So.2d 830, 833 (Fla. 1993); Bank of New York Mellon Trust Co., N.A. v. Fitzgerald, 215 So.3d 116, 119 (Fla. 3d DCA 2017) (“It is well-established that attorney’s fees may not be awarded unless authorized by contract or statute.”); accord Attorney’s Title Ins. Fund, Inc., v. Landa-Posada,...