TAWAYNA BRAXTON, APPELLANT,
v.
EVELYN GRABOWSKI, APPELLEE

Fla. 2d DCA | 2013-05-24
No. 2D12-2707
MORRIS and BLACK, JJ., Concur.
125 So. 3d 936 Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District (2013) Caution
Cited by 3 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

In this negligence case, the appellate court initially denied the appellee's motion for attorney's fees under Florida's offer of judgment statute after the appeal was dismissed for lack of prosecution. Upon rehearing, the court granted the motion, finding that compliance with the technical requirements of section 768.79 creates a mandatory entitlement to attorney's fees regardless of the de minimis nature of the fees.


Holding

The court held that once a party complies with the technical terms of section 768.79 and Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 1.442, entitlement to attorney's fees is mandatory unless the court finds the offer was not made in good faith. The court granted the motion for rehearing and the original fee motion, finding that the appellee satisfied the statutory requirements.


Headnotes

[1] Compliance with the technical terms of the offer of judgment statute and rule creates a mandatory right to attorney's fees.

[2] Attorney's fees under section 768.79, Florida Statutes, apply at the appellate level.

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Key Quotes

“Once the court determines that a party has complied with the technical terms of section 768.79 and [Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure] 1.442, the court may disallow fees only upon a finding that the offer was not made in good faith”

Establishes the mandatory nature of attorney's fees upon statutory compliance

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Facts & Procedural History

Tawayna Braxton appealed a jury verdict in an automobile negligence case where the jury found no negligence on the part of Evelyn Grabowski. After the…

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Opinion of the Court
ALTENBERND, Judge.

*937ORDER ON APPELLEE’S MOTION FOR REHEARING OF ORDER DENYING ATTORNEY’S FEES

ALTENBERND, Judge.

Tawayna Braxton appealed a judgment in an automobile negligence case in which the jury determined that there was no negligence on the part of Evelyn Grabow-ski that resulted in damage to Ms. Brax-ton. Our online docket reflects that, after the filing of the notice of appeal in May 2012, very little activity occurred in this case. Appellate counsel filed an appearance for Ms. Grabowski and subsequently informed us of his e-mail address. Ms. Braxton received two extensions of time to file a brief. The circuit court clerk sent this court a one-volume record that did not include a trial transcript. In November, this court entered an order warning that the case was about to be dismissed for failure to prosecute. When no brief was received from Ms. Braxton, we dismissed the appeal on December 18, 2012. A few days later, she filed a notice of voluntary dismissal that likely crossed in the mail with this court’s order.

In most cases, these events would signal the end of the appeal. However, in this case, our warning that the appeal was about to be dismissed prompted Ms. Gra-bowski’s appellate counsel to file a motion for attorney’s fees, claiming that he was entitled to fees under section 768.79, Florida Statutes (2010), in light of a proposal for settlement that had been served in the circuit court.

We denied the motion for fees. We assumed that, on remand, the attorney’s fees that would be incurred by Ms. Gra-bowski to establish her right to some small judgment for fees resulting from filing in this court (1) a notice of appearance, (2) a notice of e-mail address, and (3) a motion for attorney’s fees would exceed the amount of the judgment for fees she received. Apparently we were mistaken. Ms. Grabowski’s appellate counsel has moved for rehearing of the order denying fees.

In her motion for rehearing, Ms. Gra-bowski argues that, as long as a movant meets the requirements of section 768.79, entitlement to fees is mandatory.1 See § 768.79(1) (“In any civil action for damages filed in the courts of this state, if a defendant flies an offer of judgment which is not accepted by the plaintiff within 30 days, the defendant shall be entitled to recover reasonable costs and attorney’s fees .... ” (emphasis added)). Additionally, we recently held in Braaksma v. Pratt, 103 So.3d 913 (Fla. 2d DCA 2012), that “[o]nce the court determines that a party has complied with the technical terms of section 768.79 and [Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure] 1.442, the court may disallow fees only upon a finding that the offer was not made in good faith” and that “[c]ompliance with the technical terms of the offer of judgment statute and rule creates a mandatory right to attorney’s fees.” Id. at 915 (citations and internal quotation marks omitted); see also Westfield Ins. Co. v. Mendolera, 647 So.2d 223, 224 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994) (holding that section 768.79 fees apply at the appellate level).

On the basis of this authority, we are constrained to grant Ms. Grabowski’s motion for rehearing and her original fee motion. But for this precedent, we would likely follow the lead of the Third District and deny the motion for rehearing because the fees should be de minimis. Sanchez v. State Farm Fla. Ins. Co., 997 So.2d 1209 (Fla. 3d DCA 2008). But see First Real Estate, LLC v. Grant, 88 So.3d 1073 (Fla. *9381st DCA 2012) (adopting the dissenting view of Judge Shepherd in Sanchez). Admittedly, we do not know what time may reasonably have been spent on this matter outside our record, but without a transcript or a brief from the appellant, we doubt that much time could have been productively spent on this case by Ms. Grabowski’s attorneys.

Accordingly, Ms. Grabowski’s motion for rehearing is granted. The second paragraph of this court’s order of December 18, 2012, is vacated. Ms. Grabowski’s motion for appellate attorney’s fees is granted as to fees under section 768.79 and rule 1.442 only. The circuit court shall make a determination of entitlement under the proposal for settlement. If entitlement is found, the circuit court shall also determine the amount of appellate attorney’s fees. We certify conflict with Sanchez.

Motions granted; case remanded.

MORRIS and BLACK, JJ., Concur.


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Cited By

  • …ended motion for appellate attorney fees. If we were writing on a clean slate, however, we would grant Scottsdale’s motion for fees consistent with Chief Judge Shepherd’s dissent in Sanchez and our sister courts' conclusions in Braxton v. Grabowski, 125 So. 3d 936 (Fla. 2d DCA 2013), and First Real Estate, LLC v. Grant, 88 So. 3d 1073 (Fla. 1st DCA 2012).…
  • Allstate v. Klionsky (15th Cir. Ct. App. Div. 2018)

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