JOHN TEMPLE, APPELLANT,
v.
MARIANNA TEMPLE, APPELLEE
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The court held that prejudgment interest cannot be assessed on attorney's fees because they are considered litigation costs, not liquidated damages.
Following a divorce proceeding, the wife was awarded attorney's fees on remand. The trial court granted interest on these fees from the date of an ini…
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PER CURIAM.
In 1986, the trial court, in a divorce proceeding, denied an award of attorney’s fees and costs to the wife. On appeal, this court reversed the ruling on attorney’s fees.' Temple v. Temple, 519 So. 2d 1054 (Fla. 4th DCA 1988). After remand, the trial court appropriately awarded fees but also granted interest thereon from the date of the initial judgment which had been later reversed on appeal and which contained no attorney’s fee award. We again reverse.
Prejudgment interest cannot be assessed since attorney’s fees do not constitute liquidated damages. Argonaut Insurance Co. v. May Plumbing Co., 474 So. 2d 212 (Fla. 1985). Interest is only assessable when a claim is for the plaintiff’s out-of-pocket, pecuniary loss and there is a fixed date of that loss. The purpose in awarding such interest is to compensate a party for the deprivation of his property. Attorney’s fees are not liquidated damages, they are litigation costs. See NCN Electric, Inc. v. Leto, 498 So. 2d 1377 (Fla. 2d DCA 1986); Grasland v. Taylor Woodrow Homes Limited, 460 So. 2d 940 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984), rev. denied, 471 So. 2d 43 (Fla.1985); First American Bank & Trust v. Windjammer Time Sharing Resort, Inc., 483 So. 2d 732 (Fla. 4th DCA), rev. denied, 494 So. 2d 1150 (Fla.1986).
We would stress that this opinion is directed exclusively to the question of prejudgment interest. We see nothing wrong with the accumulation of interest subsequent to a judgment for attorney’s fees. In the instant case, interest would accrue prospectively from the date of the modified judgment (now appealed) awarding said fees. Novack v. Novack, 210 So. 2d 215 (Fla.1968).
REVERSED AND REMANDED.
DOWNEY, LETTS and DELL, JJ., concur.
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Quality Engineered Installation, Inc. v. Higley S., Inc., 670 So. 2d 929 (Fla. 1996)…interest upon sums that are interest. We accepted jurisdiction in this case to resolve the conflict between the decision in this case by the district court denying prejudgment interest on the award for attorney fees, relying upon Temple v. Temple, 539 So. 2d 564 (Fla. 4th DCA 1989), and decisions of the First, Third, and Fifth Districts granting prejudgment interest on awards of attorney fees. Visoly v. Security Pacific Credit Corp., 625 So. 2d 1276 (Fla. 3d DCA 1993); Bremshey v. Morrison, 621 So. 2d 717 (…
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Elliott Ross v. Bandi, 566 So. 2d 55 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990)…I on appeal. On the other hand, we find merit in appellant’s argument that the trial court erred when it determined appellant’s corporate stock to be marital property. In Temple v. Temple, 519 So. 2d 1054 (Fla. 4th DCA 1988), appeal after remand, 539 So. 2d 564 (Fla. 4th DCA 1989), the parties were separated at least four years prior to filing the petition for dissolution. Appellee husband acquired 100,000 shares of stock by using borrowed funds as well as sums earned after the separation. The trial court…
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Kendall Racquetball Invs., Ltd. v. The Green Cos., 657 So. 2d 1187 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995)…gment interest is proper where the damages are liquidated. Argonaut Ins. Co. v. May Plumbing Co., 474 So. 2d 212 (Fla.1985). Litigation costs are not liquidated damages. Williams v. Williams, 619 So. 2d 972, 973 (Fla. 3d DCA 1993); Temple v. Temple, 539 So. 2d 564 (Fla. 4th DCA 1989). Thus, the trial court erred by awarding prejudgment interest on costs. As a result, we reverse that portion of the cost judgment awarding prejudgment interest and affirm the remaining uncontested portions of the final cost judg…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Argonaut Ins. Co. v. MAY Plumbing Co., 474 So. 2d 212 (Fla. 1985)
- Novack v. Novack, 210 So. 2d 215 (Fla. 1968)
- Marianna Temple v. John Temple, 519 So. 2d 1054 (Fla. 4th DCA 1988)
- Grasland v. Taylor Woodrow Homes Ltd., 460 So. 2d 940 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984)
- NCN Elec., Inc. v. Leto, 498 So. 2d 1377 (Fla. 2d DCA 1986)
- First Am. Bank & Tr. v. Windjammer Time Sharing Resort, Inc., 483 So. 2d 732 (Fla. 4th DCA 1986)