JOHN BRAY AND ELIZABETH BRAY, APPELLANTS,
v.
CHESTER GRABOWSKI AND STEPHEN S. RICE, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS TRUSTEE OF THE STEPHEN S. RICE LIVING TRUST, APPELLEES
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.
The court held that attorneys fees cannot be awarded when the motion is untimely and there is no reservation of jurisdiction within the required period or a showing of excusable neglect.
[1] A motion for attorney fees must be filed within thirty days of a notice of voluntary dismissal unless the trial court reserves jurisdiction to consider attorney fees with…
[2] A reservation of jurisdiction to consider attorney fees within the final judgment can extend the time for filing a motion for attorney fees beyond the thirty-day period r…
Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceA notice of voluntary dismissal was filed, and the trial court reserved jurisdiction for attorneys fees after the 30-day period expired. The motion fo…
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.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Florida Rule Of Civil Procedure 1.525 cases and more on FLexlaw
PER CURIAM.
This appeal challenges the award of attorneys fees when there had been no motion for attorneys fees made within the thirty-day period required by Rule 1.525, Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, following the notice of voluntary dismissal, when there was no reservation of jurisdiction within that thirty-day period and no showing of excusable neglect which would relieve the claimant from complying with the rule. We reverse.
The Fourth District Court of Appeal has waived the requirements of Rule 1.525 when the reservation of jurisdiction to consider attorneys fees was a part of thé final judgment and thus “extended] the time for filing a motion for attorneys fees.” See Fisher v. John Carter & Assocs., Inc., 864 So. 2d 493, 496 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004). Fisher acknowledged that had the reservation not occurred within the thirty-day requirement of Rule 1.525, then only a showing of excusable neglect could extend the period. See also Gulliver Academy, Inc. v. Bodek, 694 So. 2d 675 (Fla.1997).
This court agreed with Fisher that the trial court may extend the thirty-day requirement contained in Rule 1.525 if there is a reservation of jurisdiction in the final judgment. See Saia Motor Freight Line, Inc. v. Reid, 888 So. 2d 102 (Fla. 3d DCA 2004). This authority, however, is not applicable here.
In this case, the notice of voluntary dismissal was filed on February 25, 2002, and the trial court, acting on the recommendation of a special master, did not reserve jurisdiction to consider the issue of attorney fees until April 3, 2002, after the expiration of the thirty-day period. The motion for attorney fees was not filed until May 27, 2003, over a year after the cause had been dismissed. This would have been untimely under Gulliver Academy even had the trial court timely reserved jurisdiction.
Under the facts of this case, the motion for fees was untimely and no excusable neglect was shown to authorize the court to award attorney fees and costs.
REVERSED and REMANDED for further action consistent with this opinion.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Smith v. Smith, 902 So. 2d 859 (Fla. 1st DCA 2005)…s not self-effectuating.”). The Third and Fourth Districts have held that the trial court may extend rule 1.525’s time period for filing an attorney’s-fee motion if there is a reservation of jurisdiction in the final judgment. See Bray v. Grabowski 905 So. 2d 153, 2004 WL 3001070 (Fla. 3d DCA Dec.29, 2004); Fisher v. John Carter & Assocs., Inc., 864 So. 2d 493, 496 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004); Saia Motor Freight Line, Inc. v. Reid, 888 So. 2d 102 (Fla. 3d DCA 2004). However, the Second and Fifth Districts have rejec…
-
Braxton v. Morris, 914 So. 2d 8 (Fla. 1st DCA 2005)…the issue before us: The Third and Fourth Districts have held that the trial court may extend rule 1.525’s time period for filing an attorney’s-fee motion if there is a reservation [*9] of jurisdiction in the final judgment. See Bray v. Grabowski, 905 So. 2d 153, 2004 WL 3001070 (Fla. 3d DCA Dec. 29, 2004); Fisher v. John Carter & Assocs., Inc., 864 So. 2d 493, 496 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004); Saia Motor Freight Line, Inc. v. Reid, 888 So. 2d 102 (Fla. 3d DCA 2004). However, the Second and Fifth Districts have reje…
-
Nader + Museu I, LLLP v. Miami Dade Coll. (Fla. 3d DCA 2020)…adline of rule 1.525, sufficiently concluding the action. See, e.g., Carter v. Lake County, 840 So. 2d 1153, 1155 (Fla. 5th DCA 2003) (“[A] voluntary dismissal . . . is generally utilized to conclude the action in its entirety.”); Bray v. Grabowski, 905 So. 2d 153, 154 (Fla. 3d DCA 2004) (reversing award of attorney’s fees where motion was filed outside the thirty-day deadline from the service of voluntary dismissal). While the effect of a notice of voluntary dismissal is generally “immediate, final, and irre…
Authorities Cited
- Fisher v. John Carter & Assocs., Inc., 864 So. 2d 493 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004)
- Gulliver Acad., Inc. v. Bodek, 694 So. 2d 675 (Fla. 1997)
- Saia Motor Freight Line, Inc. v. Reid, 888 So. 2d 102 (Fla. 3d DCA 2004)