Getting Attorneys Fees and Email Notifications

Are you doing it right? Are you seeking fees under 57.105 against people you are suing, or people you are involved in a lawsuit with? If you are and you are serving the notice of that by email, you need to read the Wheaton case. The Wheaton case is a January 4th, 2019 case from Florida Supreme Court. It talks all about a rule of judicial administration that talks about service by email.

Now, the Wheaton case is not a 57.105 case, it’s a proposal for settlement case, which is under a very specific statute, and a very specific rule of civil procedure. But what the Wheaton court does is it analyzes the Florida rule of judicial administration that’s at the heart of this, 2.516. So, if you’re involved in a 57.105 issue, such as if you were served with an email seeking fees, giving you notice about a 57.105 motion, you need to determine whether that email was sufficient notice or not.

In the 4th District, you need to read the Matte v. Caplan case. You need to read different cases if you’re in the 2nd District, up in Tampa. And if you’re getting an email notification, you need to read that rule of judicial administration and consider reading the Wheaton court’s opinion.