WESTFIELD INSURANCE COMPANY, APPELLANT,
v.
JOSEPH MENDOLERA, APPELLEE
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The Second District Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court's award of attorney's fees and costs to the prevailing party under section 768.79, Florida Statutes, where the judgment exceeded the defendant's pretrial settlement offer by more than 25 percent, and remanded for determination of the appropriate appellate fee amount.
Attorney's fees and costs are awardable under section 768.79, Florida Statutes, when a judgment is at least 25 percent greater than a refused pretrial demand for judgment.
[1] Section 768.79, Florida Statutes, authorizes an award of appellate attorney's fees and costs when the appellate judgment is at least 25 percent greater than a pretrial se…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceMendolera served a pretrial demand for $100,000, which Westfield Insurance refused. The jury awarded Mendolera $500,000 in damages, and the trial cour…
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ORDER ON MOTION FOR ATTORNEY’S FEES FILED BY APPELLEE, JOSEPH A. MENDOLERA
PER CURIAM.
In accordance with section 768.79, Florida Statutes (1993), Joseph Mendolera, the plain tiff in the lower court, served a pretrial demand for judgment in the amount of $100,-000.00, which Westfield Insurance Company refused. The jury returned a verdict in favor of Mendolera, awarding total damages of $500,000.00 and the trial court entered judgment for this amount. The court also awarded Mendolera his attorney’s fees and costs because the judgment was “at least 25 percent greater than the offer.” § 768.79(1), Fla.Stat. (1993).
Westfield appealed the judgment, which we affirmed, per curiam, in Westfield Ins. Co. v. Mendolera, 647 So. 2d 223 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994). We now align ourselves with the First, Fourth and Fifth District Courts of Appeal in granting Mendolera’s motion for appellate attorney’s fees and costs based on section 768.79. See Mark C. Arnold Const. Co. v. National Lumber Brokers, Inc., 642 So. 2d 576 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994); Schmidt v. Fomer, 629 So. 2d 1036, 1043 n. 10 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993); Williams v. Brochu, 578 So. 2d 491, 495 (Fla. 5th DCA 1991). We remand to the trial court to determine the appropriate amount of the award.
RYDER, A.C.J., SCHOONOVER and FULMER, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
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Frosti v. Creel, 979 So. 2d 912 (Fla. 2008)…equirements and is entitled to reasonable attorney fees and costs. The right to attorney fees pursuant to section 768.79 applies to fees incurred on appeal. Disney v. Vaughen, 804 So. 2d 581, 588 (Fla. 5th DCA 2002); Westfield Ins. Co. v. Mendolera, 647 So. 2d 223, 224 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994). CONCLUSION For the reasons stated in this opinion, we quash the Second District’s decision that affirmed the trial court’s denial of Frosti’s motion for attorney fees and costs. We hold that a motion for attorney fees and…
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Jordan v. Food Lion, Inc., 670 So. 2d 138 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996)…ourt adopted the procedural portion of section 768.79, Fla.Stat. (1991), as a rule, effective January 1, 1993, thereby repealing Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.442. .Such a result is consistent with dicta in Westfield Insurance Co. v. Mendolera, 647 So. 2d 223 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994), in which the court approved an award of section 768.79 attorney's fees and costs based on a judgment at least twenty-five percent greater than the pretrial demand for judgment served by plaintiff.…
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Westfield Ins. Co. v. Mendolera, 647 So. 2d 223 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994)…arded Mendolera his attorney’s fees and costs because the judgment was “at least 25 percent greater than the offer.” § 768.79(1), Fla.Stat. (1993). Westfield appealed the judgment, which we affirmed, per curiam, in Westfield Ins. Co. v. Mendolera, 647 So. 2d 223 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994). We now align ourselves with the First, Fourth and Fifth District Courts of Appeal in granting Mendolera’s motion for appellate attorney’s fees and costs based on section 768.79. See Mark C. Arnold Const. Co. v. National Lumber Br…
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
- Susanne Rae Schmidt v. Fortner, 629 So. 2d 1036 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993)
- Rondoe Marie Williams v. Jeannine O. Brochu, 578 So. 2d 491 (Fla. 5th DCA 1991)
- Mark C. Arnold Constr. Co. v. Nat'l Lumber Brokers, Inc., 642 So. 2d 576 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994)
- Westfield Ins. Co. v. Mendolera, 647 So. 2d 223 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994)