A probate court in Florida may, at any time, and on its own initiative, sanction a party or a Florida estate lawyer for bad faith conduct. There are rules for when a court sanctions a trustee or Florida executor or lawyer.
by Robert Hauser, esq.
Are you involved in a Florida lawsuit? Has your attorney drafted a motion for sanctions against the other party? Do you know what Florida Statute 57.105 is? What are the strict requirements of Rule 2.516? Why is it important for trust and estates lawyers to be very familiar with this rule? If you are involved in civil litigation matter, or if you are a Florida lawyer, you may want to read Estimable v. Prophete.
In Florida probate litigation, can you be held in contempt of court if you don’t know what you’re supposed to do? Can you be held in contempt of the court if you ignore a court order and then show disrespect towards the probate judge? If you are involved in an inheritance lawsuit in Florida or estate litigation West Palm Beach, you may want to learn about contempt. A May 21,2017 opinion from the Fourth District Court of Appeal, an appellate court in Florida, discusses the issue of contempt in a way that can help you in your probate trial.
In Florida, can you get sanctions against the other side for a frivolous lawsuit? What is a frivolous lawsuit in Florida probate litigation? What should my probate law firm know about frivolous lawsuits? What is Florida Statute, section 57.105? West Palm Beach wills lawyers know that this statute may be able to get you attorney’s fees.
Do you know how to get out of a 57.105 fee motion? Getting out of the 57.105 motion. The secret that most people do not know about. Hello, my name if John Pankauski, I’m a trust and estate litigation attorney at Pankauski Hauser in West Palm Beach. The trial attorneys and appellate lawyers at our firm handle matters throughout the state of Florida. And you may be involved in a case with a 57.105 fee motion? Maybe a court has accessed a attorney fees as a sanction against you under this obscure law called 57.105. Do you know how to get out of it under certain circumstances? It’s a technical law. it’s a technical rule and sometimes lawyers don’t give you proper notice of it . Getting proper notice is a prerequisite to filing the motion and to seeking fees. What you have to read is a Florida rule of Judaical administration. You need to read rule 2.516. This speaks to how documents are served, they are very technical. If someone E-Serves you or gives you notice of a 57.105 motion by email. There are very technical requirements that the rule calls for that other lawyers don’t comply with. There are also two very interesting cases that support this in the 4th District Court of Appeal and one that is quite different in the 2nd District Court of Appeal in Florida. To learn more about how to defend a 57.105 motion for attorney fees and sanctions, speak to an experienced […]
If you need to set a deposition of somebody from a corporation there’s two things you want to read. Probate lawyers, do you know how to set the deposition of a corporate representative? Hello my name is John Pankauski. If you need to set a deposition of somebody from a corporation, there’s two things you want to read. You want to read the Florida rule of civil procedure 1.310 and you want to read The Carriage Hills case. The Carriage Hills cases 109 Southern 3rd 329, it’s a 2013 4th DCA case. Now remember, don’t set the deposition of somebody with the most knowledge. Set it for a corporate representative of representatives. Three, remember that you can set a deposition of more than one person from that Corporation. Also remember that you need to identify what you want that corporate representative to testify about, otherwise the corporation isn’t going to to know who to produce. Finally remember that if your specific in your notice of deposition and you need to cite the rule and the corporation doesn’t produce the person, the witness, the deponent who is responsive to your notice, you can seek contempt or sanctions against the corporation.
An August 3, 2016 appeal out of the Fourth District Court of Appeal sheds some light on how to get sanctions against the other side for frivolous lawsuits. Have you heard of Florida Statute, section 57.105? This statute may be able to get you attorney’s fees in West Palm Beach probate. However, this case shows that it is not as easy as you may think.
Have you found yourself stuck in a crazy probate battle filled with emotion and lies? Is the other side bringing up false claims or lying under oath? Could they be found in contempt of the court? What can you do to stop them? If someone lies under oath or fails to follow a court order, they could be found in contempt of the court. In addition, their entire claim could be at risk for getting dismissed!
According to the 4th DCA in today’s McCoy v. RJ Reynolds case, the strict e-mail service requirements of Rule 2.516 do not apply to the service of a proposal for settlement. Instead, the transmission of the proposals via certified mail was sufficient. The Court’s reasoning is that a PFS is not initially “filed” and therefore need not comply with the Rule 2.516(b)(1). As a result, the appellee tobacco companies had to pay attorneys’ fees as a sanction for failing to accept a PFS under section 768.79 from a plaintiff.