ST. REGIS PAPER COMPANY, APPELLANT,
v.
RALPH PELLIZZERI, APPELLEE
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St. Regis Paper Company appealed an award of interest on attorney's fees in a workers' compensation case. The court held that interest on attorney's fees runs from the date the fee amount is actually determined and awarded, not from the date jurisdiction was reserved to assess fees later.
Interest on attorney's fees runs from the time of entry of the Deputy's award determining the fee amount, not from the date jurisdiction is reserved to assess fees. Interest cannot begin to run until the amount of the fee is actually determined.
[1] Interest on an award of attorney's fees in a workmen's compensation case runs from the time of the entry of the award setting the fee amount.
[2] A reservation of jurisdiction to assess attorney's fees does not commence the accrual of interest until the amount of the fee is determined and awarded.
Previewing 2 of 3 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“it would seem that interest should run on attorneys' fees from the time they are awarded by the deputies. We see little logic for making an exception and establishing a different rule as to allowance of interest on attorneys' fees awarded in compensation cases from the rule which authorizes interest on disability awards.”
Establishes the foundational principle that interest runs from the time fees are awarded, not from reservation of jurisdiction to assess fees
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceIn September 1978, a Deputy Commissioner awarded Pellizzeri workers' compensation benefits and reserved jurisdiction to assess attorney's fees. On Nov…
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BOOTH, Judge.
This cause is before us on appeal from the award of interest on attorney’s fees following the successful prosecution of a workmen’s compensation claim.
On September 5, 1978, the Deputy Commissioner awarded Pellizzeri compensation benefits and reserved jurisdiction to assess an appropriate attorney’s fee. St. Regis appealed, and the order was affirmed by the Industrial Relations Commission on May 15, 1979. On November 13, 1979, the Deputy awarded $17,220.00 in attorney’s fees. St. Regis paid this amount on December 13, 1979. Subsequently, the Deputy ordered St. Regis to pay $1,169.58 in interest on the attorney’s fees for the time beginning 21 days after the order reserving jurisdiction to award fees. St. Regis appealed, asserting that interest was due only for the time period beginning 21 days after the November 13, 1979 order setting the fees until the time of payment. We agree.
In Stone v. Jeffres, 208 So. 2d 827 (Fla.1968), the Supreme Court addressed the is sue of when interest begins to run on an award of attorney’s fees in compensation cases and held (208 So. 2d at 830):
[I]t would seem that interest should run on attorneys’ fees from the time they are awarded by the deputies. We see little logic for making an exception and establishing a different rule as to allowance of interest on attorneys’ fees awarded in compensation cases from the rule which authorizes interest on disability awards.
Finding no justification for an exception, we hold interest on an attorney fee runs from the time of the entry of the Deputy’s award.
Although the Deputy reserved jurisdiction to award an appropriate fee in the original order, no award was made until November 13, 1979, and interest did not begin until after that date. Interest on an award of attorney’s fees cannot begin to run until the amount of the fee is determined by the Deputy. Were it otherwise, a reservation of jurisdiction to assess the attorney’s fees followed by a 21-day period before specifying the amount due would automatically impose an interest penalty.
The order below is reversed in part and the cause remanded for further proceedings consistent herewith.
MILLS, C. J., and LARRY G. SMITH, J., concur.
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Spaulding v. Albertson's, Inc., 610 So. 2d 721 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992)…ade by the JCC. Mirlisena v. Chemlawn Corp., 597 So. 2d 877 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992); see also Stone v. Jeffres, 208 So. 2d 827 (Fla.1968); Okaloosa County Gas District v. Mandel, 394 So. 2d 453 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981); and St. Regis Paper Co. v. Pellizzeri, 394 So. 2d 234 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981). Notwithstanding the foregoing rule, claimant contends, citing Inacio v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Co., 550 So. 2d 92 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989), that interest on a statutory or contractual attorney’s fees award should run from the da…
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Hernandez v. Vill. OF Kings Creek Condo, 625 So. 2d 136 (Fla. 1st DCA 1993)…PER CURIAM. See Mirlisena v. Chemlawn Corp., 597 So. 2d 877 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992); Okaloosa County Gas Dist. v. Mandel, 394 So. 2d 453 [*137] (Fla. 1st DCA 1981); St. Regis Paper Co. v. Pellizzeri, 394 So. 2d 234 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981). AFFIRMED. ERVIN and LAWRENCE, JJ., and SHIVERS, Senior Judge, concur.…
Authorities Cited
- Stone v. Jeffres, 208 So. 2d 827 (Fla. 1968)