A recent Palm Beach appellate case on Florida attorneys fees was just released by the Florida appellate court sitting in West Palm Beach, Florida. The 4th District Court of Appeals , which hears appeals of Palm Beach lawsuits issued a legal opinion yesterday regarding Florida attorneys fees.
#ATTORNEYS FEES IN FLORIDA ONLY AVAILABLE BASED UPON STATUTE OR CONTRACT
Florida follows the American rule: each party to a Florida lawsuit pays their own way. The exception is if there is a Florida statute, or a Florida contract which provides for the payment of attorneys fees. For probate litigation, and trust litigation in Florida, there are many statutes found in the Florida trust code, and the Florida probate code.
In this very recent case, which did not involve probate litigation, there was an employment contract which provided for the payment of Florida attorneys fees.
MULTI MILLION DOLLAR #PALM BEACH LAWSUIT YIELDS $10 MILLION JUDGMENT PLUS #ATTORNEYS FEES
This recent legal opinion from Palm Beach’s appellate court is very important: Palm Beach lawsuits and Florida litigation are expensive. Attorneys fees often become an important part of your Florida trial strategy, and a consideration when evaluating your damages.
In this case, a former executive officer of a corporation sued a board member and the corporation over his termination.
This Florida appeals court opinion dealt only with the issue of Florida attorneys fees. The $10 million judgment had already been affirmed on appeal.
DISCOVERY VIOLATIONS MAKES PALM BEACH TRIAL JUDGE IMPOSE SANCTIONS — PALM BEACH TRIAL WAS ON DAMAGES ONLY
Before trial of this Palm Beach lawsuit, it is important to note that crucial things occurred:
- the Palm Beach judge struck the company’s and the board member’s pleadings as a sanction. This is major!
- There were multiple discovery violations. Not good.
- Liability was clear:
- a default judgment on liability was entered against the defendants. In other words, they lost:
- the only thing to go to trial in Palm Beach was how much the Florida damages were.
#AMAGE AWARDS EXCEEDED $10 MILLION
#Attorneys fees in excess of $1.4 Million were also awarded. The Florida appeals court sent the case back down to the Palm Beach trial court to deal with the attorneys fees issue in greater depth.
LESSONS LEARNED FROM A MULTI MILLION PALM BEACH LAWSUIT
- don’t engage in discovery violations
- don’t handle a case in a way that makes the Palm Beach Court sanction your conduct
- understand that a Palm Beach Court has broad discretion to punish your clients if they mis-behave— including declaring that you have lost the Florida lawsuit and that liability has been established
- keep detailed invoices and records of attorneys fees.
Remember,
*** Florida lawsuits over attorneys fees have now become a sub-specialty of the law.
*** Hearings and Florida trials on #attorneys fees have become increasingly common.
*** Attorneys fees hearings have their own unique rules and procedures.
*** Florida evidence is required: testimony, documents, detailed invoices for #legal services. An expert on Florida attorneys fees is required.
FOR REFERRAL SOURCES, LAWYERS AND LITIGATORS ONLY
We help you with Florida estate and trust administration and trials, and #probate appeals.
Our Florida probate law firm :
- does not prepare estate plans
- does not draft wills and trusts
- does not steal your clients or your probates
Our #West Palm Beach, Florida probate litigation firm :
- hands your clients back to you at the conclusion of the #Florida matter—after all, they are YOUR clients
- we try cases & handle appeals
- our practice is restricted to Florida probate disputes & contested guardianship’s
- we work with you on Florida estate administration, #Florida probate
- we litigate for and protect beneficiary rights
- we represent Florida personal representatives or executors, and #Florida trustees
- we receive approximately 95% of our clients from other lawyers
- we take contingency fee cases.
Who are we? Our firm is comprised of
- serious Florida litigators, with an outstanding reputation in our legal community
- focused probate lawyers,
- experienced paralegals and support staff.
We have been involved in high profile, nine figure, multi-million-dollar Florida estates, including Madoff matters, old # Palm Beach money and complex trusts and multi-party Florida probates. We also handle “small” or “simple” matters. All we do is litigate and help you with #Florida estate and trust administration. Tortious interference with an inheritance and allegations of undue influence, and #will challenges and trust challenges are a unique subspecialty of the law. Does your client know which ones to file, when to do that, and why? Do you know the different ways to prove each case? How about quantifying or assessing damages? It would be our pleasure to work with you and to serve your clients. For a complete copy of this very recent legal opinion please email michelle@pankauskilawfirm.com.
John Pankauski, www.johnpankauski.com, is the author of The Trustee’s Book – An Individual’s Guide To Money, Misfits, Marriages, and Mismanagement, and the upcoming The $41 Trillion Inheritance War. He is an estate and trust litigator in West Palm Beach, Florida, www.pankauskilawfirm.com and has been featured on the CBS Evening News, in The Wall Street Journal, MarketWatch, NBC, ABC and Fox networks.