JACK T. KIESER, APPELLANT,
v.
OLD LINE LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY OF AMERICA, APPELLEE
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Court affirmed the award of attorney fees for lack of competent evidence to overturn it, but reversed and remanded because the trial court's order lacked required findings of fact regarding hours expended and hourly rates.
An attorney fee award must be supported by findings of fact regarding the reasonable number of hours expended and a reasonable hourly rate, and reversal is required when such findings are absent.
[1] An order awarding attorney fees must contain findings of fact regarding both the reasonable number of hours expended by counsel and a reasonable hourly rate for the servi…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceKieser appealed a final order awarding attorney fees to Old Line Life Insurance Company. The hearing at which evidence was presented was not transcrib…
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WEBSTER, J.
Appellant seeks review of a final order awarding attorney fees to appellee. He argues (1) that no competent, substantial evidence was presented to the trial court to support an award of fees; and (2) that the order awarding fees is legally inadequate because it contains no findings of fact regarding either the reasonable number of hours expended by appellee’s attorneys or a reasonable hourly rate for the services provided. Because the hearing at which evidence and testimony were presented was not transcribed, we are unable to determine whether appellant’s sufficiency of the evidence argument has merit. Appellant having failed to carry his burden of persuasion, we affirm as to that argument. See Applegate v. Barnett Bank of Tallahassee, 377 So. 2d 1150 (Fla.1979). However, as appellee correctly concedes, the failure of the order to include necessary findings of fact requires reversal, and a remand so that the error can be corrected. See, e.g., Daniels v. Reeves, 712 So. 2d 839 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998); Glisson v. Jacksonville Transp. Auth., 705 So. 2d 136 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998); Loper v. Allstate Ins. Co., 616 So. 2d 1055 (Fla. 1st DCA 1993).
AFFIRMED IN PART; REVERSED IN PART; and REMANDED, with directions.
KAHN and VAN NORTWICK, JJ., CONCUR.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Pitcher v. Schneider (Fla. 5th DCA 2018)
- Albert v. Applegate et ux., 377 So. 2d 1150 (Fla. 1979)
- Loper v. Allstate Ins. Co., 616 So. 2d 1055 (Fla. 1st DCA 1993)
- Szuba v. State, 712 So. 2d 839 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998)
- Daniels v. Reeves, 712 So. 2d 839 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998)
- DiPAOLO v. THE Sch. Bd. OF Broward Cnty., 705 So. 2d 136 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998)
- Glisson v. Jacksonville Transp. Auth., 705 So. 2d 136 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998)