GARRISON PROPERTY AND CASUALTY INSURANCE COMPANY, PETITIONER,
v.
MICHAEL ROHRBACHER, RESPONDENT

Fla. 5th DCA | 2016-11-18
No. 5D16-393
PALMER and TORPY, JJ., concur.
204 So. 3d 154 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fifth District (2016)

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

Garrison Property and Casualty Insurance Company sought certiorari review of a circuit court decision that reversed a county court's denial of a contingent fee multiplier in a PIP insurance coverage dispute. The Florida Fifth District Court of Appeal held that the county court correctly denied the multiplier because competent, substantial evidence showed the insured obtained multiple attorneys without discussing a multiplier, and the relevant market did not require one to secure competent counsel.


Holding

The county court correctly denied the contingent fee multiplier because competent, substantial evidence supported finding that the relevant market did not require a multiplier to obtain competent counsel. The circuit court departed from essential requirements of law by reversing this decision, as the difficulty of the case alone cannot overcome the presumption against a multiplier.


Headnotes

[1] A contingency fee multiplier is not required to obtain competent counsel when evidence shows that attorneys repeatedly took a case without discussion of a multiplier.

[2] The difficulty of a case alone is insufficient to justify the application of a contingency fee multiplier.

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Key Quotes

“the trial court should consider the following factors in determining whether a multiplier is necessary: (1) whether the relevant market requires a contingency fee multiplier to obtain competent counsel; (2) whether the attorney was able to mitigate the risk of nonpayment in any way; and (3) whether any of the factors set forth in [Florida Patient's Compensation Fund v. Rowe, 472 So.2d 1145 (Fla.1985) ] are applicable, especially, the amount involved, the results obtained, and the type of fee arrangement between the attorney and his client.”

Establishes the three-factor test for determining whether a contingent fee multiplier is warranted.

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Facts & Procedural History

Michael Rohrbacher, an insured, sued Garrison for denial of PIP coverage. The parties reached a confession of judgment and stipulated to Rohrbacher's …

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Opinion of the Court
WALLIS, J.

WALLIS, J.

Garrison Property and Casualty Insurance Company (“Garrison”) seeks second-tier certiorari review of a decision rendered by the circuit court of Seminole County, Florida, acting in its appellate capacity. We grant review and quash the circuit court’s decision in part.1

In the underlying ease, Michael Rohrb-acher, the plaintiff-insured, filed suit against Garrison for its denial of his PIP coverage, resulting in a confession of judgment and a stipulation to Rohrbacher’s entitlement to fees and costs. However, the county court denied Rohrbacher’s request for a contingent fee multiplier. Rohrbacher then appealed to the circuit court, which reversed the county court’s denial and awarded the requested multiplier. Garrison argues the county court correctly found, based on competent, substantial evidence, that the relevant market did not require a multiplier for Rohrbacher to obtain competent counsel because many attorneys took his case without discussion of a multiplier. Thus, Garrison argues, the circuit court departed from the essential requirements .of law by reversing the county court’s decision and awarding , a multiplier. See Custer Med. Ctr. v. United Auto. Ins. Co., 62 So.3d 1086, 1092 (Fla.2010).

The Florida Supreme Court has provided specific guidelines for a court’s multiplier determination:

[T]he trial court should consider the following factors in determining whether a multiplier is necessary: (1) whether the relevant market requires'a contingency fee multiplier to obtain competent counsel; (2) whether the attorney was able to mitigate the risk of nonpayment in any way; and (3) whether any of the factors set forth in [Florida Patient’s Compensation Fund v. Rowe, 472 So.2d 1145 (Fla.1985) ] are applicable, especially, the amount ■ involved, the results obtained, and the type of fee arrangement between the attorney and his client.

Standard Guar. Ins. Co. v. Quanstrom, 555 So.2d 828, 834 (Fla.1990) (emphasis added). Garrison’s petition focuses primarily on the hearing testimony relevant to the first factor. The county and circuit court both accepted the undisputed fee hearing testimony that Rohrbacher retained approximately ten lawyers to represent him in his PIP case before hiring Rutledge Bradford, who actually won the case. Neither court expressly found that the prospect of a multiplier was needed to secure competent counsel, or that Bradford even considered the possibility of a multiplier before taking the case. Although a competing expert asserted that he and other attorneys would not have taken the case without a multiplier, competent, substantial evidence otherwise *156supported the finding that Rohrbacher repeatedly obtained counsel without consideration of a multiplier. Thus, the county court correctly declined to apply a multiplier. See id.

The circuit court correctly stated that Bradford, presented with a difficult case, attained an unlikely success where others had failed. However, the difficulty of the case alone cannot overcome the presumption against a multiplier. See State Farm Fla. Ins. Co. v. Alvarez, 175 So.3d 352, 358 (Fla. 3d DCA 2015). Furthermore, as we have previously stated, “Our docket, and the dockets of the trial courts in Central Florida, have hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of PIP suits pending at any given time. It seems that few insureds, if any, have difficulty obtaining competent counsel to represent them.” Progressive Exp. Ins. Co. v. Schultz, 948 So.2d 1027, 1031 (Fla. 5th DCA 2007). Because the county court did not abuse its discretion by declining to award a multiplier, the circuit court erred in reversing the county court. See Holiday v. Nationwide Mut. Fire Ins., 864 So.2d 1215, 1218 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004).

We have previously granted certiorari review for such a departure from controlling case law. Schultz, 948 So.2d at 1029-31. Thus, we grant the petition and quash the circuit court’s ruling in part, reinstating the county court’s rulings that Rohrb-acher is entitled to neither a fee multiplier nor costs beyond those already stipulated.

PETITION GRANTED.

PALMER and TORPY, JJ., concur.


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