CLARA STROTHMAN, APPELLANT,
v.
HENDERSON MENTAL HEALTH CENTER, INC., A/K/A HENDERSON MENTAL HEALTH CLINIC, A FLORIDA NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION, APPELLEE

Fla. 4th DCA | 1983-01-26
No. 82-1092
DELL and WALDEN, JJ., concur.
425 So. 2d 1185 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (1983) Positive Treatment
Cited by 35 cases
Topics
Frivolous Claim Standard Attorney'S Fees Under Fla. Stat. § 57.105 Fla. Stat. § 57.105 Attorney'S Fees

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Opinion of the Court
ANSTEAD, Judge.

ANSTEAD, Judge.

The award of attorney’s fees to appellee pursuant to the provisions of section 57.105, Florida Statutes (1982) is hereby reversed. Whitten v. Progressive Casualty Insurance Co., 410 So. 2d 501 (Fla.1982). The mere failure of the appellant to state a cause of action in her original or amended pleadings was not sufficient, in and of itself, to support a finding that her claim was so lacking in merit as to justify the invocation of section 57.105.

We again caution trial courts in this district that before such an award may be made there must be a finding that the position advanced by the losing party is virtually frivolous, Whitten, at 505; and this finding must be predicated upon substantial competent evidence presented to the court at the hearing on attorney’s fees or otherwise before the court and in the trial court record.

DELL and WALDEN, JJ., concur.

Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus

Citator

Cited By (17 total)

  • Weatherby Assocs., Inc. v. Ballack, 783 So. 2d 1138 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001)
    …1993). The trial court’s finding must be based upon substantial competent evidence presented to the court at the hearing on attorney’s fees or otherwise before the court and in the trial court record. Strothman v. Henderson Mental Health Ctr., Inc., 425 So. 2d 1185 (Fla. 4th DCA 1983). See also O’Brien v. Brickell Townhouse, Inc., 457 So. 2d 1123 (Fla. 3d DCA 1984). [*1142] Following the 1999 amendment to section 57.105(1), the frivolousness of a claim may be measured when the claim is “initially presented to…
  • Marcellus M. Mason, Jr. v. Highlands Cnty. Bd. OF Cnty. Comm'rs, 817 So. 2d 922 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002)
    …tled to recover attorney’s fees under section 57.105 must be based upon substantial, competent evidence presented at the hearing on attorney’s fees or otherwise before the court and in the record. See Strothman v. Henderson Mental Health Ctr., Inc., 425 So. 2d 1185, 1185-86 (Fla. 4th DCA 1983). Mason’s amended complaint, while not stating a cause of action, did not reflect that the claims were so lacking in merit as to support an award of fees under section 57.105. Moreover, no substantial, competent evidence…
  • Berman & Feldman v. Winn Dixie, Inc., 684 So. 2d 320 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996)
    …y be made, the trial court must find that the position advanced by the losing party was virtually frivolous, and each finding must be .based upon substantial competent evidence presented to the court. Strothman v. Henderson Mental Health Ctr., Inc., 425 So. 2d 1185 (Fla. 4th DCA1983). In this case, the trial court so found— a finding clearly supported by the record. Indeed, the instant case is one “ ‘so clearly untenable, or the insufficiency of which is so manifest on a bare inspection of the record and assi…

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