CURTIS ALAN GUYTON, APPELLANT,
v.
LEONARD DEWEY WILKINSON ACTION WELDING SUPPLY, INC., A FLORIDA CORPORATION, AND NATIONAL FREIGHT, INC., A FOREIGN CORPORATION, DEFENDANTS, YELLOW FREIGHT, INC., APPELLEE
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Guyton appealed a judgment awarding Yellow Freight post-judgment interest and attorney's fees from a workers' compensation lien dispute. The court reversed the $17,000 attorney's fee award, finding the trial court erred by failing to hold an evidentiary hearing on the reasonableness of the fees as required by law.
The trial court erred by awarding attorney's fees without conducting an evidentiary hearing. The court reversed the attorney's fees award and remanded for the trial court to hold an evidentiary hearing to determine the reasonableness of the fees amount. All other issues raised by appellant were affirmed.
[1] A party is entitled to an evidentiary hearing on the reasonableness of attorney's fees awarded, absent a waiver of that right.
[2] A trial court errs in awarding attorney's fees without conducting an evidentiary hearing when the reasonableness of the amount is disputed and the right to such a hearing…
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“Appellant is entitled to an evidentiary hearing as to the reasonableness of the amount of fees.”
Establishes the legal standard that attorney's fees awards require an evidentiary hearing on reasonableness.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceCurtis Guyton initiated an action for an equitable share of a tort judgment resulting from a workers' compensation lien. In July 1996, the trial court…
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WOLF, Judge.
Appellant’s motion for clarification filed January 27, 1998, is granted; however, appellant’s motions for rehearing and rehearing en banc are denied. The court’s opinion filed January 12, 1998, is withdrawn, and the following clarified opinion is substituted.
Curtis Guyton appeals from a final judgment awarding Yellow Freight, Inc. - post-judgment interest and attorney’s fees arising out of an action for an equitable share of a tort judgment as a result of a workers’ compensation lien. Only one of appellant’s four issues has'any mérit: Whether the trial court erred in awarding $17,000 in attorney’s fees to Yellow Freight without holding an evidentiary hearing. We determine that this was error, and we reverse and remand that portion of the order assessing the amount of attorney’s fees for the trial court to conduct an evidentiary hearing on this matter. We affirm as to all other issues raised.
In a July 1996 order addressing both parties’ motions for attorney’s fees and costs, the trial court directed Yellow Freight to file affidavits concerning its claim of attorney’s fees within 20-days, and granted the plaintiff 10 days thereafter to file “whatever response they deem appropriate.” Pursuant to that order, Yellow Freight submitted an affidavit with a list of costs and charges. The plaintiff/appellant filed a motion for evidentiary hearing on the attorney’s fees issue. No hearing was held. On September 11, 1996, the trial court entered an order awarding $17,000 in attorney’s fees to Yellow Freight. Plaintifffappellant sought a rehearing on the order awarding attorney’s fees, which was denied. Appellant is entitled to an evidentiary hearing as to the reasonableness of the amount of fees. See Fowler v. First Fed. Savings & Loan Ass’n of Defuniak Springs, 643 So. 2d 30, 33 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994), rev. denied, 658 So. 2d 990 (Fla.1995). There is nothing in the record to indicate that appellant waived this right.
Reversed and remanded with directions to hold an evidentiary hearing on attorney’s fees.
BOOTH and JOANOS, JJ., concur.
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Zumpf v. Countrywide Home Loans, Inc., 43 So. 3d 764 (Fla. 2d DCA 2010)…dated damages and require a hearing. Id. Absent an evidentiary hearing, the fee award will be reversed for a hearing unless there is an indication that the right to a hearing was waived. Guyton v. Leonard Dewey Wilkinson Action Welding Supply, Inc., 707 So. 2d 885, 886 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998). The hearing on Countrywide’s motion for final judgment was not conducted in a manner typically associated with a trial or other dispositive evidentiary proceeding. Although it tried, the trial court did not fully explain t…
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Adrianna Mihalyi v. Lasalle Bank, N.A., 162 So. 3d 113 (Fla. 4th DCA 2014)…012, 1012 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994). Once fee entitlement is determined, the party requesting the fees is entitled to an evidentiary hearing as to the reasonableness of the amount of fees. See Guyton v. Leonard Dewey Wilkinson Action Welding Supply, Inc., 707 So. 2d 885, 886 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998). A plaintiffs voluntary dismissal makes a defendant the “prevailing party” ■within the meaning of subsection 57.105(7), even if the plaintiff refiles the case and prevails. Nudel v. Flagstar Bank, FSB, 60 So. 3d 1163, 1165…
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Black Point Assets, Inc. v. M C M Cap. P'rs, 236 So. 3d 1134 (Fla. 2d DCA 2018)
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Amos Fowler & Amylene, Inc. v. First Fed. Sav. & Loan Ass'n OF Defuniak Springs now known as First Fed. Sav. Bank of Defuniak Springs, 643 So. 2d 30 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994)