E.B. ROOD AND DAVID B. WEBSTER, FORMERLY KNOWN AS ROOD & WEBSTER, APPELLANTS/CROSS-APPELLEES,
v.
J. GARY MCMAKIN, APPELLEE/CROSS-APPELLANT
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.
Rood and Webster appeal from a judgment awarding McMakin a portion of attorney's fees collected in two negligence cases. The court affirms the award of fees based on quantum meruit but reverses the specific amounts awarded because the trial court failed to provide sufficient findings under the Rowe doctrine, and remands for recalculation.
The court affirms that McMakin is entitled to fees on a quantum meruit basis but reverses the specific percentage amounts awarded because the trial court failed to provide findings required by Rowe. The court affirms that prejudgment interest is properly awarded. The court vacates the judgment as to the joint and several liability issue for additional evidence.
[1] An award of attorney's fees based on quantum meruit must comply with the requirements set forth in Florida Patient's Compensation Fund v. …
[2] The requirements of Florida Patient's Compensation Fund v. …
Previewing 2 of 4 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“Rowe applies whether the awarded attorney's fees are based on entitlement by statute or by contract”
Establishes that the Rowe doctrine applies to fee awards on quantum meruit, requiring specific findings
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceMcMakin and Webster were members of a professional association that dissolved in 1979. In 1981, Webster joined in practice with Rood and brought perso…
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 Attorney'S Fees Dispute cases and more on FLexlaw
PATTERSON, Judge.
E.B. Rood and David B. Webster appeal from a final judgment awarding J. Gary McMakin, Esq. a portion of attorney’s fees collected by Rood and Webster in two negligence cases, including an award of prejudgment interest. McMakin cross-appeals challenging the method by which the trial court arrived at his award. We affirm in part, reverse in part and remand with instructions.
McMakin and Webster were members of a professional association which dissolved in May of 1979. They continued to share office space as sole practitioners and entered into a written agreement relating to the handling of certain personal injury files which were McMakin’s property. That agreement essentially provided for a specific division of duties and responsibilities and the division of fees derived on a 50/50 basis. The agreement contained a list of cases to which it applied; the list did not include the Jones and Napier cases which are the subject of this litigation.
In April, 1981, Webster joined in the practice of law with Rood, taking with him a series of personal injury files including Jones and Napier. Both of these cases subsequently settled, generating substantial attorney fees which were retained by Rood and Webster. McMakin sued seeking a 50/50 division of the fees and included a separate count founded in quantum meruit.
The trial court, after hearing contradictory and irreconcilable testimony, found that McMakin, on the basis of quantum meruit, was entitled to one-eighth of the fee received in the Napier case and one-fifth of the fee received in the Jones case. In a subsequent hearing the trial court assessed prejudgment interest to these amounts. We hold that the record supports an award of fees to McMakin.
The trial judge did not state his reasons for arriving at the percentage amounts awarded. Rood and Webster contend that if an award of fees is to be made on the basis of quantum meruit, then the trial court must meet the requirements of Florida Patient’s Compensation Fund v. Rowe, 472 So. 2d 1145 (Fla.1985). We agree. Acknowledging conflict with the 3rd District, this court held in Freedom Savings & Loan Association v. Biltmore Construction Co., 510 So. 2d 1141, 1142 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987), that “Rowe applies whether the awarded attorney’s fees are based on entitlement by statute or by contract.” We have more recently applied the Rowe doctrine to attorney’s fees founded on quantum meruit. Riesgo v. Weinstein, 523 So. 2d 752 (Fla. 2d DCA 1988). We see no material distinction in the facts of this case. We, therefore, affirm the trial court’s determination of fees on the basis of quantum meruit and reverse the final judgment as to the amounts awarded. On remand, we direct the trial court to conduct additional proceedings and to set forth specific findings consistent with the requirements of Rowe.
Rood and Webster contend that an award of prejudgment interest is improper, arguing that the damages are derived from a personal injury action and, therefore, are unliquidated. That position is not well taken. The fees generated by the Jones and Napier cases were reduced to a specific amount on the date that they were received. An award of prejudgment interest is required from that date forward as a matter of law. Argonaut Insurance Co. v. May Plumbing Co., 474 So. 2d 212 (Fla.1985).
The final issue which we must consider is McMakin’s assertion that the trial court erred in entering several judgments against Rood and Webster rather than a single joint and several judgment. The record is so incomplete on this issue that it is not possible for us to resolve it or to determine what constituted the basis of the trial court’s holding. We, therefore, vacate the final judgment in its entirety with directions to the trial court to take additional evidence on the issue of joint and several liability.
AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, AND REMANDED.
SCHOONOVER, A.C.J., and PARKER, J., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Searcy v. Paige N. Poletz, 652 So. 2d 366 (Fla. 1995)…urly fee using the Rowe criteria. The firm urged the district court to recede from its prior decisions which hold that the Rowe “lodestar” method must be used to determine attorney fees recoverable under a quantum meruit theory. See Rood v. McMakin, 538 So. 2d 125 (Fla.2d DCA 1989); Riesgo v. Weinstein, 523 So. 2d 752 (Fla.2d DCA 1988); see also Barton v. McGovern, 504 So. 2d 457 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987) (in determining the quantum me-ruit recovery to be awarded an attorney discharged without cause before conclusi…
-
Franklin & Marbin, P.A. v. Mascola, 711 So. 2d 46 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998)…possible forfeiture of the fee. We note that in applying Rosenberg the measurement of quantum meruit proved quite contentious. Some courts held that the Rowe method should be used to determine quantum meruit for discharged lawyers. Rood v. McMakin, 538 So. 2d 125 (Fla. 2d DCA 1989); Riesgo v. Weinstein, 523 So. 2d 752 (Fla. 2d DCA 1988); Barton v. McGovern, 504 So. 2d 457 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987) (in fixing quantum meruit recovery to be awarded attorney discharged without cause before conclusion of case court mus…
-
Searcy v. Paige N. Poletz, 646 So. 2d 209 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994)…PATTERSON, Judge. In this dispute over how the fee of a lawyer, first retained under a contingent fee contract, then discharged, should be calculated on a quantum meruit basis, we affirm the trial court. See Rood v. McMakin, 538 So. 2d 125 (Fla. 2d DCA 1989); Riesgo v. Weinstein, 523 So. 2d 752 (Fla. 2d DCA 1988). We certify conflict with Stabinski Funt & De Oliveira, P.A. v. Law Offices of Frank H. Alvarez, 490 So. 2d 159 (Fla. 3d DCA), review denied, 500 So. 2d 545 (Fla.1986), and F…
Previewing 3 of 4 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Fla. Patient's Comp. Fund v. Rowe, 472 So. 2d 1145 (Fla. 1985)
- Argonaut Ins. Co. v. MAY Plumbing Co., 474 So. 2d 212 (Fla. 1985)
- Riesgo v. Ira Weinstein, 523 So. 2d 752 (Fla. 2d DCA 1988)
- Freedom Sav. & Loan Ass'n v. Biltmore Constr. Co., Inc., 510 So. 2d 1141 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987)