GEORGE DUSOE AND VERONICA DUSOE, APPELLANTS,
v.
SECURIS INTERNATIONAL, INC., APPELLEE

Fla. 1st DCA | 1996-04-19
No. 95-2719
ERVIN and MINER, JJ., concur.
672 So. 2d 89 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (1996) Positive Treatment
Cited by 8 cases

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.

Synopsis

Securis International sought recovery from George and Veronica Dusoe for amounts allegedly owed by their wholly-owned corporation, Security Management, based on fraudulent transfers in violation of Florida's fraudulent transfer statute. The trial court found liability on the fraudulent transfer claim and awarded attorney's fees and costs, but the appellate court affirmed the underlying judgment while reversing the attorney's fees award.


Holding

The court affirmed the judgment against the Dusoes for fraudulent transfer, finding the factual findings supported by competent substantial evidence and not manifestly unreasonable. However, the court reversed the award of attorney's fees and costs, holding that no Florida law supports assessing such fees against implied third-party defendants under section 56.29(11).


Headnotes

[1] Competent substantial evidence supports a trial court's factual findings when those findings are not manifestly unreasonable and clearly against the weight of the evidenc…

[2] A judgment creditor cannot recover attorney's fees and costs from an implied third-party defendant under section 56.29(11), Florida Statutes.

Previewing 2 of 3 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

Key Quotes

“We conclude that competent substantial evidence supports the factual findings of the trial court and that the appellants have not demonstrated that the findings are 'manifestly unreasonable' and 'clearly against the weight of the evidence.'”

Establishes the standard of review for factual findings and applies it to affirm the fraudulent transfer judgment.

Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Facts & Procedural History

Securis International initiated an impleader action against George and Veronica Dusoe, claiming they received fraudulent transfers of funds from Secur…

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.


Opinion of the Court
VAN NORTWICK, Judge.

VAN NORTWICK, Judge.

This is an appeal from a final judgment and an order on attorney’s fees and costs entered against appellants, George and Veronica Dusoe, in the impleader action of Secu-ris International, Inc., appellee, in which See-uris sought to recover from the Dusoes the amounts owed Securis by its debtor, Security Management, a corporation wholly-owned and controlled by the Dusoes, based upon the alleged fraudulent transfer of funds from Security Management to the Dusoes in violation of Chapter 726, Florida Statutes (1993). We conclude that competent substantial evidence supports the factual findings of the trial court and that the appellants have not demonstrated that the findings are “manifestly unreasonable” and “clearly against the weight of the evidence.” Alter v. Finesmith, 214 So. 2d 732, 736 (Fla. 3d DCA 1968), rev. denied, 225 So. 2d 538 (Fla.1969). Accordingly, we affirm the underlying judgment against the Dusoes pursuant to Chapter 726, Florida Statutes.

On the other hand, we have found no Florida law to support the trial court’s determination that an assessment of attorney’s fees and costs against the Dusoes, as implied third-party defendants, is justified under section 56.29(11), Florida Statutes. In fact, we find that Rosenfeld v. TPI International Airways, 630 So. 2d 1167 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993) (judgment creditor’s attorney’s fees and costs are not recoverable under section 56.29 from an implied third-party defendant), rev. denied, 640 So. 2d 1107 (Fla.1994), requires a contrary result. For that reason, we reverse the award of attorney’s fees and costs. Schwartz v. Sherman, 210 So. 2d 469, 471 (Fla. 3d DCA 1968) (general rule is that a party may be awarded attorney’s fees and costs only when permitted under a statute or contract).

AFFIRMING in part and REVERSING in part.

ERVIN and MINER, JJ., concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • Paul v. Gadi Avrahami and Andrew Paul, 216 So. 3d 647 (Fla. 4th DCA 2017)
    …btor—not against any impleaded parties. See, e.g., Bloco, Inc. v. Porterfield Oil Co., 990 So. 2d 578, 580 (Fla. 2d DCA 2008); Gaedeke Holdings, Ltd. v. Mortg. Consultants, Inc., 877 So. 2d 824, 826 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004); Dusoe v. Securis Int’l, Inc., 672 So. 2d 89, 90 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996); Rosenfeld v. TPI Int’l Airways, 630 [*651] So. 2d 1167, 1169 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993); see also § 56.29(11), Fla. Stat. (2011). Here, the only judgment debtor is KCGF, and the trial court had no lawful authority to award attorney…
  • Gaedeke Holdings, Ltd. v. Mortg. Consultants, Inc., 877 So. 2d 824 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004)
    …upplemental proceedings against either Randy Nier or Scott Oliniek. This includes the $40,643.52 sought in the Plaintiffs March 6, 2003 Motion on Taxation of Costs and Attorney Fees, ... See § 56.29 Fla. Stat. (2003); Dusoe v. Securis International, 672 So. 2d 89 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996); Rosenfeld v. TPI International Airways, 630 So. 2d 1167 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993); Bonizo Properties v. Schroeder, 528 So. 2d 1304 (Fla. 4th DCA 1988). Gaedeke first challenges the trial court’s ruling that, as a matter of law, Gaede…
    1 / 2
  • …r — not against any impleaded parties. See, e.g., Bloco, Inc. v. Porterfield, Oil Co., 990 So. 2d 578, 580 (Fla. 2d DCA 2008); Gaedeke Holdings, Ltd. v. Mortg. Consultants, Inc., 877 So. 2d 824, 826 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004); Dusoe v. Securis Int'l, Inc., 672 So. 2d 89, 90 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996); Rosenfeld v. TPI Int’l Airways, 630 So. 2d 1167, 1169 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993); see also § 56.29(11), Fla. Stat. (2011). Here, the only judgment debtor is KCGF, and the trial court had no lawful authority to award attorney’s fees…

Previewing 3 of 4 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw