GENE AND NAOMI STOROB AND GEORGE DOUGE, APPELLANTS,
v.
SPHERE DRAKE INSURANCE, APPELLEE
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The court held that the insureds were entitled to attorney's fees despite not pleading them, due to the trial court reserving jurisdiction and the carrier's acquiescence.
Appellants-insureds successfully defended a declaratory judgment action brought by their liability carrier, establishing coverage and a duty to defend…
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SCHWARTZ, Chief Judge.
The appellants-insureds successfully defended a declaratory judgment action brought by their liability carrier, resulting in a judgment which established coverage and the carrier’s duty to defend an existing tort claim against them.1 Although they were thus entitled to attorney’s fees under section 627.428, Florida Statutes (1997), in the order now under review, the trial court nevertheless denied fees on the authority of Stockman v. Downs, 573 So. 2d 835 (Fla. 1991), because the appellants had not asserted a fees claim in any of their pleadings. Although that was indeed the case, we reverse.
We do so because when, at the end of the non-jury trial, the trial judge asked the carrier’s counsel to prepare the final judgment, he agreed with the insureds’ lawyer’s request to include a provision that “the court reserves jurisdiction as to attorneys fees....” We hold that these circumstances invoke the “waiver” exception to the Stockman no-pleading, no-fees rule stated in Stockman itself as follows:
Where a party has notice that an opponent claims entitlement to attorney’s fees, and by its conduct recognizes or acquiesces to that claim or otherwise fails to object to the failure to plead entitlement, that party waives any objection to the failure to plead a clam for attorney’s fees.
Stockman, 573 So. 2d at 838. Because each prerequisite of the exception applies, the order denying fees is reversed and the cause remanded with directions appropriately to assess the amount. .
Reversed.
. The judgment was affirmed sub nom. Odyssey Re (London) Ltd. v. Storob, - So. 2d-(Fla. 3d DCA Case no. 98-2028, opinion Bled, March 31, 1999).
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Fernandez v. Crespo, 98 So. 3d 1198 (Fla. 3d DCA 2012)…rted claim to fees. See Stockman, 573 So. 2d at 838; Sandoval v. Banco de Comercio, S.A., 585 So. 2d 934 (Fla.1991); Save on Cleaners of Pembroke II v. Verde Pines City Ctr. Plaza, LLC, 14 So. 3d 295 (Fla. 4th DCA 2009); Storob v. Sphere Drake Ins., 730 So. 2d 375 (Fla. 3d DCA 1999); Dep’t of Health & Rehab. Servs. v. Coyle, 624 So. 2d 400 (Fla. 5th DCA 1993); Brown v. Gardens by the Sea S. Condo. Ass’n, 424 So. 2d 181 (Fla. 4th DCA 1983); Mainlands of Tamarac by the Gulf Unit No. 4 Ass’n v. Morris, 388 So. 2…
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Allen Morris Constr. Co., Inc. v. Salazar, 766 So. 2d 360 (Fla. 3d DCA 2000)…owners withdrew their claim under section 713.31 during the arbitration in any event. The record sufficiently supports the proposition that there was a waiver or acquiescence within the meaning of Stockman. See also Storob v. Sphere Drake Insurance, 730 So. 2d 375 (Fla. 3d DCA 1999). We need not reach the owners’ alternative argument that once a case proceeds to arbitration, “a party need only give notice, whether formal or informal, that it will later seek attorney’s fees pursuant to a specific contractual p…
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Lenahan v. Lenahan (Fla. 3d DCA 2021)…an objection, and, under this case’s unusual procedural posture, was sufficient to preserve the objection. B. Distinguishing this Court’s Storob Decision The sister heavily relies on this Court’s decision in Storob v. Sphere Drake Insurance, 730 So. 2d 375 (Fla. 3d DCA 1999), as support for her argument that Stockman’s exception to the pleading requirement is applicable in this case. Storob, though, is distinguishable. In Storob, an insurance carrier filed a declaratory judgment action against its…
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- Stockman v. Downs, 573 So. 2d 835 (Fla. 1991)