DELEUW, CATHER & COMPANY, APPELLANT,
v.
DEBRA GROGIS, AS PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ESTATE OF MARY SCHOFIELD, APPELLEE
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A construction engineering firm appeals a trial court's decision to tax nearly all of plaintiff's litigation costs against it despite being found only 10% at fault in a wrongful death action. The court affirmed, holding that costs are assessed independently of fault percentages and that trial courts have discretion in taxing costs.
Costs are not assessed proportionally to fault percentages. A trial court has discretion to tax costs against a defendant even when that defendant's fault is lower than other defendants', because the amount of costs incurred in proving a case against particular defendants is not proportionate to fault assessments.
[1] A statute partially abrogating joint and several liability, which pertains to damages, does not govern the allocation of costs.
[2] The taxation of costs is traditionally within the discretion of the trial court.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“section 768.81 pertains to damages, not costs. Costs are provided for in chapter 57.”
Distinguishes the statute limiting joint and several liability (applicable to damages) from the rule governing costs assessment
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligencePlaintiff sued six defendants in a wrongful death case and settled with five of them. A jury found appellant (a construction engineering firm involved…
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KLEIN, Judge.
Plaintiff sued six different defendants in a wrongful death action; however, she settled with five at various points in the litigation, ultimately obtaining a judgment for damages against appellant in the amount of $25,000. Plaintiff moved to tax costs of $34,181 against appellant, and the court allowed $21,-568 of those costs. Appellant argues on this appeal that because the jury found appellant 10% at fault, appellant should only be liable for 10% of plaintiffs costs. We affirm.
Appellant does not argue that plaintiff did not incur these costs in proving her case, but rather that there should be a hard and fast rule that costs are assessed in the same percentage as fault, because that would be consistent with section 768.81, Florida Statutes (1993), which partially abrogated joint and several liability.
We cannot agree with appellant, since section 768.81 pertains to damages, not costs. Costs are provided for in chapter 57. Nor do we think the rule advocated by appellant makes any sense, since the amount of costs a plaintiff incurs against multiple defendants is not proportionate to the fault which a jury may assess against those defendants.
In the present case, for example, one of the defendants was a driver who ran a red light and was found 80% at fault. Although appellant has not provided a record from which it could be determined what costs were incurred by plaintiff in proving her case against specific defendants, it could well be the case that little or no costs were necessary to establish the negligence of the defendant who ran the red light. Appellant, on the other hand, was a construction engineering firm involved in constructing this intersection at the time of the accident, and plaintiffs costs to establish liability against appellant may well have been substantial, notwithstanding appellant was only found to be 10% at fault.
Appellant’s proposed rule would not only be unfair, but would also be incompatible with the well-established principle that the taxation of costs is “traditionally within the discretion of the trial court.” del Real v. Dawson, 320 So. 2d 20 (Fla. 4th DCA 1975).
Affirmed.
GLICKSTEIN and WARNER, JJ., concur.
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Minouche Noel v. Broward Gen. Med. Ctr., 725 So. 2d 438 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999)…’ failure to identify those specific costs which they claim were not reasonable or necessary makes it impossible for us to conclude that the trial court’s ruling was outside the broad parameters of its discretion. See Deleuw, Cather & Co. v. Grogis, 655 So. 2d 240, 241 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995). Affirmed. STONE, C.J., and GROSS, J., concur.…
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Deleuw v. Grogis, 664 So. 2d 989 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995)…KLEIN, Judge. In Deleuw, Cather & Co. v. Grogis, 655 So. 2d 240 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995), we issued our opinion affirming the trial court’s judgment taxing costs in the amount of $21,588. Thereafter, appellee moved for attorney’s fees and costs on the basis of an offer of judgment served by appellee during the pen-de…
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Frost v. Boss, 908 So. 2d 483 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005)…the judgment is at least 25% less than the offer, should be apportioned between Drake and Frost. If that occurred, then Boss’s net judgment would be less than 75% of the offer, entitling Frost to costs and fees. In Deleuw, Cather & Co. v. Grogis, 655 So. 2d 240 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995), we rejected a rule that required the court to apportion costs between joint tortfeasors based upon the jury’s assessment of their percentage of liability. We explained that we did not think such a rule “makes any sense, since th…
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
- The City OF Tamarac v. Leadership Hous. Sys., Inc., 320 So. 2d 20 (Fla. 4th DCA 1975)
- Doctor Ricardo E. del Real, M.D. v. Dawson, 320 So. 2d 20 (Fla. 4th DCA 1975)