DENNIS M. LADOFF, APPELLANT,
v.
AUDREY LADOFF, APPELLEE
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
The court held that an award of temporary attorney's fees must be supported by competent evidence in the record, not just argument or unsworn statements.
In a dissolution proceeding, the trial court awarded the appellee $2,000 in temporary attorney's fees. The record contained only argument of counsel a…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Unsworn Statements cases and more on FLexlaw
DELL, Judge.
Appellant seeks reversal of an order entered in a dissolution proceeding that awarded appellee $2,000 in temporary attorney’s fees. Appellant contends that the record does not contain any evidentiary support for the trial court’s award of attorney’s fees. We agree.
While the record of the hearing on temporary attorney’s fees contains argument of counsel, an unsworn verbal statement by appellant, and an exchange of views between the court and counsel, it does not contain any competent evidence concerning appellant’s ability to pay or appellee’s need for temporary fees.
Trial judges cannot rely upon ... un-sworn statements as the basis for making factual determinations; and this court cannot so consider them on review of the record. If the advocate wishes to establish a fact, he must provide sworn testimony through witnesses other than himself or a stipulation to which his opponent agrees.
Leon Shaffer Golnick Advertising, Inc. v. Cedar, 423 So. 2d 1015, 1017 (Fla. 4th DCA 1982).
Appellee’s counsel did not introduce the financial affidavits filed by the parties into evidence, nor did he furnish any other evidentiary basis for the amount awarded by the court. After discussing the case with counsel, the court simply stated:
Let’s give them a couple of thousand dollars to get the fight back in the ballpark here, then we can go at it.
Appellee’s failure to make any evidentiary showing whatsoever in support of her petition for temporary attorney’s fees requires us to reverse and remand this case for further proceedings. See Child v. Child, 474 So. 2d 299, 302 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985); Cummings v. Cummings, 330 So. 2d 134, 136 (Fla.1976).
REVERSED and REMANDED.
HERSEY, C.J., and ANSTEAD, J., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Brown v. The Sch. Bd. OF Palm Beach Cnty., 855 So. 2d 1267 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003)…r that there was any objection to the attorneys’ unsworn testimony in the trial court; “both attorneys made unsworn representations about the non-appearance of appellant’s attorney” at a hearing. 428 So. 2d at 1016. Similarly, in Ladoff v. Ladoff, 496 So. 2d 989 (Fla. 4th DCA 1986), we did not require an objection in the trial court to reverse based on the Leon Shaffer rule. We treated the issue as one of a failure of proof.…
-
Bland v. Green Acres Grp., L.L.C., 12 So. 3d 822 (Fla. 4th DCA 2009)…r, it does not appear that there was any objection to the attorneys’ unsworn testimony in the trial court; ‘both attorneys made un-sworn representations about the nonappearance of appellant’s attorney’ at a hearing. “Similarly, in Ladoff v. Ladoff [496 So. 2d 989 (Fla. 4th DCA 1986) ], we did not require an objection in the trial court to reverse based on the Leon Shaffer rule. We treated the issue as one of a failure of proof.” [c.o.] 855 So. 2d at 1270 (Gross, J., specially concurring). This case is iden…
-
State of Fla. Dep't of Env't Reg. v. Chemairspray, Inc., 520 So. 2d 96 (Fla. 4th DCA 1988)…re brought to the attention of the court, but it appears that it may have occurred through unsworn statements of counsel. There were apparently no affidavits submitted by appellees which support the finding of dilatory behavior. In Ladoff v. Ladoff, 496 So. 2d 989, 990 (Fla. 4th DCA 1986), quoting from Leon Shaffer Golnick Advertising, Inc. v. Cedar, 423 So. 2d 1015, 1017 (Fla. 4th DCA 1982), this court stated: Trial judges cannot rely upon ... un-sworn statements as the basis for making factual determinatio…
Authorities Cited
- Cummings v. Cummings, 330 So. 2d 134 (Fla. 1976)
- Leon Shaffer Golnick Advertising, Inc. v. Cedar, 423 So. 2d 1015 (Fla. 4th DCA 1982)
- Child v. Child, 474 So. 2d 299 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985)