CLYDE TIMMONS, APPELLANT,
v.
BONNIE S. COMBS, 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.
Defendant who obtained a jury verdict of no liability cannot recover attorney's fees under section 45.061 because that statute requires a judgment in favor of the plaintiff, which did not occur here.
A defendant may not recover attorney's fees under section 45.061, Florida Statutes, where no judgment was rendered in favor of the plaintiff, even if the defendant prevails at trial.
[1] Section 45.061, Florida Statutes, does not permit a defendant to recover attorney's fees where the plaintiff did not obtain a judgment, even if the defendant prevails at…
Previewing 1 of 1 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAppellant was a defendant in a lawsuit filed by appellee. The jury returned a verdict of no liability in favor of the defendant, resulting in a final …
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 Settlement Offers cases and more on FLexlaw
PER CURIAM.
Appellant, the defendant in a lawsuit filed by appellee, who received a jury verdict of no liability followed by a final judg- ment in his favor, appeals, contending the trial court erred in determining that he was not entitled to recover attorney’s fees and costs under section 45.061, Florida Statutes (1989), for the appellee/plaintiff s unreasonable failure to accept an offer of settlement. Upon consideration of the briefs and arguments of the parties, we concur with the decisions of the Second District Court of Appeal in Norris & Associates of Ñaples, Inc. v. Elkins, 570 So. 2d 1386 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990), and Coe v. B & D Transp. Services, Inc., 561 So. 2d 469 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990), which hold that a defendant may not recover under section 45.061 where no judgment was rendered in favor of the plaintiff.1
AFFIRMED.
SMITH, WIGGINTON, JJ. and WENTWORTH, S.J., concur. . In an unrelated case, Hughes v. Goolsby, 578 So. 2d 348 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991), this court reversed an award of attorney’s fees, holding that section 768.79, Florida Statutes (1989), is unconstitutional for the reasons stated in Milton v. Leapai, 562 So. 2d 804 (Fla. 5th DCA 1990), with respect to the Fifth District’s determination that section 45.061 is unconstitutional; question certified to the Florida Supreme Court with respect to section 768.79. No issue of constitutionality has been raised in the case before us.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Timmons v. Combs, 608 So. 2d 1 (Fla. 1992)…GRIMES, Justice. We review Timmons v. Combs, 579 So. 2d 840 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991), because of its conflict with Gross v. Albertson’s, Inc., 591 So. 2d 311 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991), and Memorial Sales, Inc. v. Pike, 579 So. 2d 778 (Fla. 3d DCA 1991). We have jurisdiction under article V, section 3(b)(3) of the Flori…
-
Buchanan v. Allstate Ins. Co., 629 So. 2d 991 (Fla. 1st DCA 1993)…ment was for no liability. See Ch. 90-119, § 48, at 401, Laws of Fla. . See cases cited in footnote 1, supra. . In so saying, we note that when it rendered its decision, the trial court correctly followed this court's decision in Timmons v. Combs, 579 So. 2d 840 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991), wherein we held that section 45.061, like section 768.79, required a judgment for the plaintiff before an attorney-fee award could be made to the defendant. This was, of course, later disapproved by the supreme court in Timmons…
-
Lennar Corp. v. Muskat, 595 So. 2d 968 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992)…(Fla. 3d DCA 1992), we hold both that section 45.061 is constitutional, Leapai v. Milton, 595 So. 2d 12 (Fla.1992), and that it applies when judgment is entered for the defendant. On the latter issue, we again certify conflict with Timmons v. Combs, 579 So. 2d 840 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991), review granted, 587 So. 2d 470 (Fla.1991) and Westover v. Allstate Ins. Co., 581 So. 2d 988 (Fla. 2d DCA 1991). See Leapai v. Milton, 595 So. 2d at 14 (issue noted but not resolved). On the merits, we conclude that the presumpt…
Previewing 3 of 7 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Milton v. Leapai, 562 So. 2d 804 (Fla. 5th DCA 1990)
- Norris & Assocs. OF Naples, Inc. v. Elkins, 570 So. 2d 1386 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990)
- Wallen v. Jerome Isaac, M.D., 561 So. 2d 469 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990)
- COE v. B & D Transp. Servs., Inc., 561 So. 2d 469 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990)
- Hughes v. Goolsby, 578 So. 2d 348 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991)