UNITED AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY
v.
MULTIMED CARE, INC., A/A/O ERIKA PATRICIA CONSUEGRA ROMERO

Fla. 3d DCA | 2021-07-21
No. 21-0262
Raum
46 Fla. L. Weekly D1102 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (2021)

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.


Holding

A trial court must conduct an evidentiary hearing to determine the reasonableness of unliquidated attorney's fees rather than resolving the issue based solely on discovery procedures.


Headnotes

[1] A trial court must hold an evidentiary hearing to determine the reasonableness of unliquidated attorney's fees and may not resolve the issue solely through discovery proc…

Previewing 1 of 1 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Key Quotes

“Florida law does not permit a trial court to substitute discovery procedures for an evidentiary hearing on unliquidated damages.”

Court's explanation of the legal requirement for attorney's fees determinations

Facts & Procedural History

United Auto appealed a county court order granting attorney's fees to Multimed Care, Inc. The county court awarded the fees without conducting an evid…

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.


Opinion of the Court

Opinion filed July 21, 2021. Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.

________________ No. 3D21-262 Lower Tribunal Nos. 20-235AP & 19-7256CC ________________

United Automobile Insurance Company,

Appellant,

vs.

Multimed Care, Inc., a/a/o Erika Patricia Consuegra Romero, Appellee.

An Appeal from the County Court for Miami-Dade County, Michaelle Gonzalez-Paulson, Judge. Michael J. Neimand, for appellant. Feiler & Leach, P.L., and Martin E. Leach, for appellee. Before FERNANDEZ, C.J., and GORDO, and LOBREE, JJ. FERNANDEZ, C.J.

United Automobile Insurance Company (“United Auto”) appeals the county court’s order granting attorney’s fees in favor of Multimed Care, Inc., entered without a mandatory evidentiary hearing. We reverse and remand for an evidentiary hearing to determine the reasonableness of attorney’s fees only. See United Automobile Insurance Company v. Professional Medical Group, Inc., 46 Fla. L. Weekly D1102, D1102 (Fla. 3d DCA May 12, 2021) (“Florida law does not permit a trial court to substitute discovery procedures for an evidentiary hearing on unliquidated damages. . . . ‘By requesting that the court hold an evidentiary hearing on the issue of attorney’s fees, appellant[ ] preserved [its] right to a hearing.’”).”

Reversed and remanded.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw