PAUL DEBERNARDO
v.
VILLA NOVA HOMEOWNERS ASSOC., INC.
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A trial court must set forth specific written findings concerning hourly rate, hours reasonably expended, and appropriateness of reduction or enhancement factors when awarding attorney's fees, and failure to do so constitutes reversible error requiring remand.
[1] A trial court must set forth specific findings concerning the hourly rate, the number of hours reasonably expended, and the appropriateness of reduction or enhancement fa…
[2] The absence of specific factual findings regarding attorney's fees makes it impossible for an appellate court to review the propriety of the award.
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“The law is 'well established that the trial court must set forth specific findings concerning the hourly rate, the number of hours reasonably expended and the appropriateness of reduction or enhancement factors.'”
Court citing Campbell v. Campbell and Hoffay v. Hoffay for the established requirement of written findings in attorney's fee awards.
Paul Debernardo appealed a county court order awarding Villa Nova Homeowners Association $29,508.33 in attorney's fees in a case involving less than $…
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DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA
FOURTH DISTRICT
PAUL DEBERNARDO,
Appellant,
v.
VILLA NOVA HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION, INC.,
Appellee.
No. 4D21-380
[April 7, 2021]
Appeal from the County Court for the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, Palm Beach County; Marni A. Bryson, Judge; L.T. Case Nos. 50-2020-AP- 000016-CAXX-MB and 50-2018-SC-025983-XXXX-SB.
R. Bowen Gillespie, III of Gillespie & Allison P.A., Fort Lauderdale, for appellant.
Marshall J. Osofsky of Law Office of Paul A. Krasker, P.A., West Palm Beach, for appellee.
DAMOORGIAN, J.
Paul Debernardo appeals the county court’s order awarding Villa Nova Homeowners Association, Inc. $29,508.33 in legal fees and argues, among other things, that the court awarded an unreasonable amount of fees and failed to set forth specific findings in the order regarding the time reasonably expended, the hourly rate, and other factors it may have considered. We agree that the court’s failure to set forth the required findings in the order constitutes reversible error. Campbell v. Campbell, 46 So. 3d 1221, 1222 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010) (“The law is ‘well established that the trial court must set forth specific findings concerning the hourly rate, the number of hours reasonably expended and the appropriateness of reduction or enhancement factors.’” (quoting Hoffay v. Hoffay, 555 So. 2d 1309, 1310 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990))). The absence of these factual findings, however, “makes it impossible for us to review the propriety of the . . . court’s award of fees,” including the argument that the court
2
awarded an unreasonable amount of fees.1 Ortiz v. Ortiz, 227 So. 3d 730, 733 (Fla. 3d DCA 2017). We therefore remand for the court to apply the necessary analysis, determine the proper amount of attorney’s fees, and make the required written findings in the order. See id. We find no merit to the other issues raised on appeal.
Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded. WARNER and MAY, JJ., concur.
* * * Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Campbell v. Dina M. Campbell, 46 So. 3d 1221 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010)
- Hoffay v. Hoffay, 555 So. 2d 1309 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990)
- Murray Ziontz and Suzanne Ziontz v. Ocean Trail Unit Owners Ass'n, Inc., 663 So. 2d 1334 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993)
- Ortiz v. Ortiz, 227 So. 3d 730 (Fla. 3d DCA 2017)