PLANAS & FRANYE ENGINEERS, INC., APPELLANT,
v.
JOSE B. PADILLA AND HORTESIA PADILLA, HIS WIFE, APPELLEES
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Mechanic's lien foreclosure plaintiff must pay defendant's attorney's fees under Fla. Stat. § 713.29, but the trial court erred by awarding fees for the entire case rather than only the lien foreclosure aspect.
An attorney's fee under Fla. Stat. § 713.29 in a mechanic's lien foreclosure must be awarded only with respect to the lien foreclosure aspect of the case, not the entire litigation.
[1] An attorney's fee under Fla. …
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“an attorney's fee should be awarded only with respect to the lien foreclosure aspect of the case”
The court cited Jackson v. Hatch as governing precedent establishing the proper scope of attorney's fee awards.
Plaintiff brought a mechanic's lien foreclosure action against defendants. The mechanic's lien foreclosure aspect was dismissed with prejudice prior t…
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PER CURIAM.
The plaintiff in a mechanic’s lien foreclosure brings this appeal from an order allowing an attorney’s fee for the defendant after plaintiff’s failure to establish a lien. The basis for an attorney’s fee in such instances is Fla.Stat. § 713.29. Plaintiff concedes that it is liable for a reasonable fee but urges that inasmuch as the mechanic’s lien foreclosure aspect of the litigation was dismissed with prejudice prior to trial, the trial court erred as to the amount of the fee allowed. The trial judge did not have the benefit of the opinion in Jackson v. Hatch, Fla.App.1974, 288 So. 2d 564, which holds that an attorney’s fee should be awarded only with respect to the lien foreclosure aspect of the case. We find that the decision in that case is governing and reverse with directions to conduct such additional hearings and take such additional testimony as may be necessary to enter an order in conformity with the law as therein declared.
Appellee suggests that the court may have intended the fee allowed to be compensation only for the mechanic’s lien foreclosure portion of the action. This suggestion is untenable in view of the inappropriate size of' the fee as compared with the amount of legal effort expended in obtaining an early dismissal of the lien aspect of the case.
Reversed and remanded for proceedings in accord with the view herein set out.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Winnie v. Buckhalter, 362 So. 2d 1014 (Fla. 1st DCA 1978)…1). However, Winnie is only entitled to attorney’s fees for the services rendered incident to the mechanics’ lien aspect of the case. Kinard Enterprises, Inc. v. Johnson, 308 So. 2d 593 (Fla.lst DCA 1975); Planas & Franye Engineers, Inc. v. Padilla, 310 So. 2d 354 (Fla.3d DCA 1975); Jackson v. Hatch, 288 So. 2d 564 (Fla.2d DCA 1974). Accordingly, that portion of the final judgment denying Winnie attorney’s fees is reversed and the cause is remanded for a determination by the trial court of a reasonable fee f…
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Planas & Franyie Eng'rs, Inc. v. Padilla, 341 So. 2d 259 (Fla. 3d DCA 1977)…This court agreed and remanded on the authority of Jackson v. Hatch, 288 So. 2d 564 (Fla.2d DCA 1974) that the attorney’s fee should be awarded only with respect to the lien foreclosure aspect of the case. Planas & Franye Engineers, Inc. v. Padilla, 310 So. 2d 354 (Fla.3d DCA 1975). In accordance with the mandate of this court, the trial judge conducted an additional hearing and took additional testimony concerning a reasonable attorney’s fee for that portion of the services rendered by the Padillas’ attorney…
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Authorities Cited
- Ronald Jackson and Joanne v. Jackson, 288 So. 2d 564 (Fla. 2d DCA 1974)