The Limits of Civil Contempt in Florida

Trial judges have many tools at their disposal to compel compliance with court orders, including court discovery orders in civil cases. On December 9, 2015, Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal in West Palm Beach issued its opinion in the case of Huber v. Disaster Solutions, LLC, Case Nos. 4D13-4360 / 4D14-520. http://4dca.org/opinions/Dec.%202015/12-09-15/4D13-4360.op.pdf

In that case, the appellants did not comply with court orders, improperly disclosed confidential information in a civil case, and otherwise were held in civil contempt for their refusal to follow the commands of the court.

The appellants’ pattern of violations landed them in two distinct and expensive types of trouble.

The first sanction, a coercive sanction, required them to pay $100,000 each time they failed prospectively to comply with a court order. This sanction was affirmed as a reasonable method to ensure compliance with court orders. Moreover, the actual assessment of the sanction was entirely avoidable and within the control of the parties to whom it was directed: they could simply comply with the trial judge’s directions.

The second sanction was a compensatory sanction for contempt of court. Essentially, the trial court required the violators to pay for all of the attorneys’ fees that had been spent litigating over, protecting, and preserving the confidentiality of sensitive data that was being used to develop software. The total award was $179,270.93 in fees and costs. A money judgment was entered in favor of Disaster Solutions, LLC. Trial attorneys Jack Scarola and Patrick Quinlan of Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley, P.A. represented Disaster Solutions, LLC.

The appellees then refused to pay the compensatory sanction within the time required by the trial court. They filed a supersedeas bond and appealed the judgment.

To defend the sanctions, Disaster Solutions, LLC turned to Florida Bar Board Certified Appellate Attorney Rob Hauser of the Pankauski Law Firm PLLC in West Palm Beach.

Mr. Hauser successfully represented the appellee, Disaster Solutions, LLC at the Fourth District. After thorough briefing, a three-judge panel of the Fourth District upheld the $100,000 coercive sanction in its December 9 opinion. The $179,270.93 compensatory sanction was also upheld. In fact, all but one of the appellants’ many and lengthy legal arguments were rejected without further discussion.

The sole issue actually discussed was whether the trial court could use its $100,000 coercive sanction (which was otherwise affirmed) to enforce the timely payment of the accompanying $179,270.93 compensatory sanction. Writing for the panel, District Judge Burton Conner reversed on that issue alone, relying on analogous family law cases to decide that the coercive sanction could not be used to compel payment of a money judgment for compensatory damages alone. Instead, the remedy for the creditor is to collect using execution (or here, to proceed against the supersedeas bond upon affirmance of the sanction). Accordingly, the judgment was affirmed as modified in this respect. In addition, the court awarded appellate attorneys’ fees to Disaster Solutions, LLC subject only to establishing at trial that it was the prevailing party on appeal. The two judges concurring in the panel opinion were District Judges Matthew Stevenson and Dorian Damoorgian.

Mr. Hauser is pleased to have participated in this interesting and important decision on civil contempt awards. For further information about civil contempt or any other appellate issue, contact him at the Pankauski Law Firm PLLC at (561) 514 0900 Ext. 102 or at hauser@pankauskilawfirm.com. The opinion may be found athttp://www.4dca.org/opinions/Dec.%202015/12-09-15/4D13-4360.op.pdf.