CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, ETC., PETITIONER,
v.
JOHN DEUTZMAN, RESPONDENT
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
The City of Miami Beach challenged an order awarding attorneys' fees to Respondent Deutzman. The court held that attorneys' fees cannot be awarded without an express statutory, contractual, or rule-based basis, and quashed the fee award because the circuit court failed to state any legal foundation for it.
Attorneys' fees cannot be awarded without an express statutory, contractual, rule-based, or sanctioning basis. Because the circuit court failed to state any legal basis for awarding fees, the fee award must be quashed.
[1] A court may only award attorney's fees when expressly provided for by statute, rule, or contract, or as a sanction.
[2] An award of attorney's fees must be supported by a specific contractual, statutory, or other substantive basis.
Previewing 2 of 3 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Generally, a court may only award attorney's fees when such fees are expressly provided for by statute, rule, or contract.”
Establishes the fundamental legal requirement that attorneys' fees must have a specific legal basis
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe circuit court in its appellate capacity awarded attorneys' fees to Respondent without stating a basis for the award. Respondent's motion for fees …
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Certiorari cases and more on FLexlaw
The City of Miami Beach seeks certiora-ri review of an order by the circuit court in its appellate capacity, which awarded attorneys’ fees to Respondent.1 The order *246was the first ruling on the. question..of attorneys’ fees. Properly viewed, our proceeding is not the second, but rather the first tier of appellate review. See Ramirez v. United Auto. Ins. Co., 67 So.3d 1174, 1175-76 (Fla. 3d DCA 2011) (“Because the order denying appellate fees was the first ruling on the question, we do not think that, properly viewed, this proceeding is the second, but rather the first tier of appellate review — ”). We have jurisdiction. See Mejia v. United Auto. Ins. Co., 83 So.3d 897, 898 (Fla. 3d DCA 2012) (using first-tier certiorari review to quash an appellate circuit court’s order granting attorneys’ fees).
Attorneys’ fees cannot be awarded as a matter of equity. Attorney’s Title Ins. Fund. Inc. v. Landa-Posada, 984 So.2d 641, 643 (Fla. 3d DCA 2008). “Generally, a court may only award attorney’s fees when such fees are expressly provided for by statute, rule, or contract.” Bane v. Bane, 775 So.2d 938, 940 (Fla.2000) (quotation and citation omitted). Attorneys’ fees may also be awarded in appropriate circumstances as a sanction. Moakley v. Smallwood, 826 So.2d 221, 227 (Fla.2002); Landa-Posada, 984 So.2d at 643.
In this case, the circuit court did not state a basis for awarding attorneys’ fees. Nor did Respondent in his motion for fees. Without any basis for awarding the fees, the circuit court departed from the essential requirements of the law. See State, Dep’t of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles v. Trauth, 971 So.2d 906, 908 (Fla. 3d DCA 2007) (“An award of appellate attorneys’ fees must be supported by a particular contractual, statutory, or other substantive basis. Because the circuit court appellate panel failed to state any basis for awarding attorneys’ fees, other’than [Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure] 9.400, the attorneys’ fee award cannot stand.”) (internal citation omitted). We therefore grant the petition and quash the portion of the order awarding attorneys’ fees.
Petition granted; order quashed in part.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Certified Windshield v. GEICO Gen. Ins. Co., 264 So. 3d 217 (Fla. 2d DCA 2018)…er before [been] subjected to judicial review.' " (second alteration in original) (citation omitted) (quoting Highwoods DLF EOLA, LLC v. Condo Developer, LLC, 51 So. 3d 570, 573 n.1 (Fla. 5th DCA 2010))). But cf. City of Miami Beach v. Deutzman, 180 So. 3d 245, 245-46 (Fla. 3d DCA 2015) ("The order was the first ruling on the question of attorneys' fees. Properly viewed, our proceeding is not the - 3 - second, but rather the first tier of appellate review."). The decision as to which form of jurisdi…
-
Allstate Fire & Cas. Ins. Co. v. Hallandale Open MRI, LLC, 253 So. 3d 36 (Fla. 3d DCA 2017)…ater in this opinion. For example, certiorari as an appeal of right is available to obtain first-tier appellate review of a circuit court appellate decision to award attorney's fees or disqualify counsel. See, e.g., City of Miami Beach v. Deutzman, 180 So. 3d 245, 245-46 (Fla. 3d DCA 2015) ("The order was the first ruling on the question of attorneys' fees. Properly viewed, our proceeding is not the second, but rather the first tier of appellate review."). "The policy behind this rule is simple. ... If, in…
-
Simon v. Waters, 253 So. 3d 1172 (Fla. 5th DCA 2018)…can only award attorney fees when authorized by statute, rule, or contract. Hubbel , 758 So. 2d at 97. The trial court cited many of the cases so holding. See, e.g. , Bane v. Bane , 775 So. 2d 938, 940 (Fla. 2000) ; City of Miami Beach v. Deutzman , 180 So. 3d 245, 246 (Fla. 3d DCA 2015) ; Bauer v. DILIB, Inc. , 16 So. 3d 318, 320 (Fla. 4th DCA 2009) ; Attorney's Title Ins. Fund, Inc. v. Landa-Posada , 984 So. 2d 641, 643 (Fla. 3d DCA 2008). It is a natural corollary that a court may not utilize general, amor…
Previewing 3 of 4 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Moakley v. Smallwood, 826 So. 2d 221 (Fla. 2002)
- Bane v. Consuella Kathleen Bane, 775 So. 2d 938 (Fla. 2000)
- Ramirez v. United Auto. Ins. Co., 67 So. 3d 1174 (Fla. 3d DCA 2011)
- State v. Trauth, 971 So. 2d 906 (Fla. 3d DCA 2007)
- Attorney's Title Ins. Fund, Inc. v. Landa-Posada, 984 So. 2d 641 (Fla. 3d DCA 2008)
- Mejia v. United Auto. Ins. Co., 83 So. 3d 897 (Fla. 3d DCA 2012)
- Delvarice Stinfil v. State, 83 So. 3d 897 (Fla. 4th DCA 2012)