Attorney Fees on Appeal: If my case is reversed, do I still have to pay the attorney fees from the original case under Florida law?

Cases get appealed all of the time in Palm Beach–most of the time, for good reason.    Have you recently been involved in acommercial litigation in Miami? If you lost the case, you may have been ordered to pay theattorney’s fees for the winning side. But instead, after fighting the case on appeal in Tampa, the Court reverses and rules in your favor–That means that you are now the winner of the case! Now that you are the winner, do you still have to pay those attorney’s fees you were order to pay in the original action in Palm Beach Gardens? That doesn’t seem fair, right? Well, you may want to read this recent from Florida’s 2nd District Court of Appeal dealing with Florida attorney’s fees after an appeal. 

If my case is reversed, do I still have to pay the attorney fees from the original action?

• St. Armands Circle, LLC v. GEE22, LLC, a recent case in the 2nd District Court of Appeal, involved a commercial lease for a restaurant space.
• In the original case, St. Armands (the losing side) was order to pay the attorney’s feesfor GEE22 (the winning side) in Fort Lauderdale.
• St. Armands (the loser from the original case) appealed.
• The Florida Appeal Court sided with St. Armands, and it reversed the final judgment of the original case. This meant that St. Armands (the side that appealed) was now the winner of the case.
• After that, St. Armands challenged the final judgment from the original case that order it to pay for GEE22’s attorney’s fees.

• If you win your case on appeal in Orlando, the Court’s decision to reverse the final judgment also requires it to reverse the judgment for attorney’s fees.
• The once winner of the case is now the loser–why should you be required to pay for itsattorney’s fees in Boca Raton? This case from Florida’s 2nd District Court of Appeal says that you aren’t required to do so!

To read a free online copy of this case opinion and learn more about what happens to attorney’s fees on appeal in Florida, click here:

http://www.2dca.org/opinions/Opinion_Pages/Opinion_Pages_2015/April/April%2008,%202015/2D13-1974.pdf.