A. D. LAWSON AND COLUMBIA CASUALTY CO.
v.
COUNTY BOARD OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION, FRANKLIN COUNTY, FOR THE USE AND BENEFIT OF W. A. ALFORD, ET AL.
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This case concerns a motion to modify a supersedeas bond order in an appeal. The appellate court considered whether attorney fees could be included as a condition of the bond for an interlocutory appeal, ultimately denying the motion to modify.
Yes, attorney fees may be included as a condition of a supersedeas bond for an interlocutory appeal when such an appeal delays the enforcement of rights and causes expense and damage to the appellee. The trial court's determination of the bond's amount and condition will not be interfered with unless it is an arbitrary or illegal exercise of statutory authority.
““Ordered, Adjudged and Decreed that the appeal this day taken by the defendants from the order of this Court entered in the above entitled cause on the 11th day of December, A. D. 1933, and recorded the 13th day of December, 1933, in Chancery Order Book ‘H,’ on page 128, do operate as a supersedeas, upon the defendants filing herein a bond in the penal sum of $2,000, with good and sufficient surety, to be approved by the Clerk of this Court, conditioned to pay to the plaintiffs' all costs and damages, including a reasonable fee for the services of their attorney on this appeal, which they may sustain by reason of the stay of these proceedings, in the event the order appealed from shall be affirmed or the appeal dismissed.””
This quote details the trial court's order for the supersedeas bond, including the contested provision for attorney fees.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceDefendants appealed an order denying their motion to dismiss a bill of complaint. The trial court ordered that the appeal would operate as a supersede…
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— A bill of complaint was brought to enforce an accounting and to decree liability on the surety *154bond in a construction contract on a' public building. A motion to dismiss the bill of complaint was denied and on appeal duly taken, the circuit judge under Section 4962 (3170) and Section 4621 (2911), Compiled General Laws, “Ordered, Adjudged and Decreed that the appeal this day taken by the defendants from the order of this Court entered in the above entitled cause on the 11th day of December, A. D. 1933, and recorded the 13th day of December, 1933, in Chancery Order Book ‘H,’ on page 128, do operate as a supersedeas, upon the defendants filing herein a bond in the penal sum of $2,000, with good and sufficient surety, to be approved by the Clerk of this Court, conditioned to pay to the plaintiffs' all costs and damages, including a reasonable fee for the services of their attorney on this appeal, which they may sustain by reason of the stay of these proceedings, in the event the order appealed from shall be affirmed or the appeal dismissed.”
A motion is made to modify the quoted order so as to exclude therefrom as being improperly and unlawfully therein the following words: “including a reasonable fee for the services of their attorney on this appeal.” An appropriate motion in the appellate court is the proper procedure. Continental Nat. Building & Loan Ass’n v. Scott, 41 Fla. 421, 26 Sou. 726; State, ex rel. Langford v. Barker, 99 Fla. 588, 126 So. 764.
A supersedeas to stay the progress of judicial proceedings is not a matter of right, but in proper cases may be obtained by a compliance with the conditions prescribed by statute or by judicial order pursuant to statute.
Where a statutory supersedeas is invoked the statutory requirements should be observed to make the supersedeas effective to stay proceedings in the matter to which the supersedeas is addressed.
*155Under the statutes an appeal duly taken from an order or decree in a chancery cause, or a writ of error duly taken to a judgment in a civil action at law, operates as a supersedeas upon the due execution, approval. and filing of a bond; and when the judgment or decree to be superseded is in whole or in part other than a money judgment or decree, “the amount and condition of the bond shall be determined by the court below.” Sections 4621 (2911), 4962 ( 3170), C. G. L.; Holgate v. Jones, 93 Fla. 269, 111 So. 626; Hillsborough County Bldg. & Loan Assoc. v. Folsom, 100 Fla. 757, 129 So. 918; Carr & Carr v. Marion Mortgage Co., 99 Fla. 807, 126 So. 776; Labell v. Campbell, 99 Fla. 1125, 128 So. 422.
. In stated classes of cases the statute confers upon “the court below” the authority and duty to determine the amount and condition of a supersedeas bond; and the appellate court will not interfere with the determination made by the court below unless such determination involves illegality or an arbitrary and unwarranted exercise of the statutory authority conferred.
In determining “the amount and condition of the bond,” the trial court should consider the rights of the parties in the subject matter of the litigation as' such rights may be affected by the supersedeas, including the expense and damage or loss which will probably be caused by the delay in the progress of the cause while the particular appellate proceedings are pending, as well as the nature of the cause and of the matter involved in the appellate proceedings. Attorney fees may not ordinarily be recovered as costs and damages in actions on supersedeas bonds unless properly so made a condition of the bonds. See Vestel, et al., v. Eagerton, 92 Fla. 215, 109 So. 456.
The appeal in this case is from an interlocutory order *156and the matter involved in the appeal and the rights of the appellee that will be adversely affected by delay following an appeal and supersedeas, are of such a nature that indemnity for reasonable attorney fees incurred by appellee in the particular appellate proceedings, may fairly and ap•propriately be made a condition of the supersedeas bond to be paid by appellant in case the order appealed from is affirmed or the appeal dismissed, no provision or principle of law being thereby violated, and the determination of the “court below” as to the “amount and condition of the bond,” not being shown to be an arbitrary and unwarranted exercise of the authority conferred by the statute.
Even if attorney fees may not be recovered in enforcing contract or statutory rights, yet when an interlocutory appeal is taken which with supersedeas delays the enforcement of rights and causes expense and damage, the payment of reasonable attorney fees for the appellees may in proper, cases be made a condition of the supersedeas bond to indemnify the appellee for expenses and damage incurred by reason of the appeal, should the order be affirmed or the appeal dismissed.
.Motion denied.
Davis, C. J., and Whitfield, Ellis, Terrell, Brown and Buford, J. J., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By (12 total)
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City OF Jacksonville v. Brentwood Golf Course, Inc., 338 So. 2d 1105 (Fla. 1st DCA 1976)…’s liability on the supersedeas bond of an unsuccessful appellant depends entirely on the conditions of the bond. Seven-Up Bottling Co. of Miami, Inc. v. George Constr. Corp., 156 So. 2d 167 (Fla.App. 3d 1963); Lawson v. County Board of Pub. Instr., 114 Fla. 153, 154 So. 170 (1934). Even when the successful ap-pellee has been positively benefited by su-persedeas and the passage of time on appeal, those benefits are disregarded in calculating “damages for delay” unless the bond requires that such benefits be…
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Kahn v. Am. Sur. Co. of N.Y., 120 Fla. 50 (Fla. 1935)…s may in proper cases be made the condition of a supepsedeas bond to indemnify the appellee for expenses and damages incurred by reason of the appeal should the order be affirmed or the appeal dismissed. Lawson v. County Board of Public Instruction, 114 Fla. 153, 154 So. 170. See also Wittich v. O’Neal, 22 Fla. 592; Fidelity and Deposit Co. of Maryland v. Aultman, 58 Fla. 228, 50 So. 991; Gonzales v. DeFuniak Havana Tobacco Co., 41 Fla. 471, 26 So. 1012. The supersedeas bond in question was given by Tropic…
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Luckhardt v. Pardieck, 142 So. 2d 749 (Fla. 2d DCA 1962)…ecree on its merits [emphasis theirs] in the Supreme Court is hereby overruled and receded from, [emphasis ours] “This is not an appeal from an interlocutory decree, where a different rule prevails. See Lawson v. County Board of Public Instruction, 114 Fla. 153, 154 So. 170, 171, * * The motion of the appellants to review and modify the order and supersedeas bond was timely and properly made. Ritter v. Bentley, Fla.1955, 78 So. 2d 573 is not controlling, as that was an action on a super-sedeas bond which…
Previewing 3 of 12 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Carr v. Marion Mortg. Co., 99 Fla. 807 (Fla. 1930)
- Labell v. Mary E. Campbell et vir., 99 Fla. 1125 (Fla. 1930)
- The Cont'l Nat'l Bldg. & Loan Ass'n v. Receiver, 41 Fla. 421 (Fla. 1899)
- Holgate v. Jones, 93 Fla. 269 (Fla. 1927)
- Vestel v. Eagerton, 92 Fla. 215 (Fla. 1926)
- Hillsborough Cnty. Bldg. & Loan Ass'n v. Folsom, 100 Fla. 757 (Fla. 1930)
- State v. The Honorable W. J. Barker, 99 Fla. 588 (Fla. 1930)