Emergency Banner

Reversal of Attorney’s Fees Award Arising Out of Denial of Requests for Admissions

Sharon Degnan, of the Orlando office, won an appeal in the Fifth District Court of Appeal wherein she obtained a reversal of an attorney’s fee award against her client and the client’s insurance carrier in Sentz v. Tracy, 266 So. 3d 1279 (Fla. 5th DCA 2019). The attorney’s fee award was originally entered as a sanction for the defendant’s failure to admit certain requests for admission. The appellate court held that an award of attorney’s fees pursuant to Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.380(c), which authorizes such an award against a party who fails to admit a request for admission, was inapplicable to the defendant’s denial of requests to admit that she was negligent and the legal cause of damage to the plaintiff, which issues were hotly disputed at trial. The appellate court agreed with Sharon’s argument that to allow a fee award in such a circumstance would improperly turn Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.380(c) into a prevailing party fee provision, which it is not intended to be.

Share Now:

Subscribe to our Newsletter

Recent Posts

Motion for Summary Judgment Victory in National Supermarket Slip-and-Fall Case
Charles Kondla, of our Miami office, obtained a Final Summary Judgment in a premises liability action involving a national supermarket chain. The motion...
Congratulations to Our Newest ABOTA Members!
Congratulations to Jason Friedman, of our Ft. Lauderdale office, and David Drahos, of our West Palm Beach office, on becoming members of the American Board...
KD Sponsors the 37th Annual BCHBA Scholarship Awards & Installation Gala
KD was proud to sponsor the Broward County Hispanic Bar Association’s 37th Annual Scholarship Awards & Installation Gala, where Sha-Mekeyia Davis,...

Only PDF, JPG or GIF can be uploaded.

Search Results Will Show Here

Subscribe To Our Newsletter