Banner v. Law Office of David J. Stern, P.A.

198 So. 3d 1133, 2016 Fla. App. LEXIS 12810, 2016 WL 4493351
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedAugust 24, 2016
DocketNo. 4D14-1440
StatusPublished

This text of 198 So. 3d 1133 (Banner v. Law Office of David J. Stern, P.A.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Banner v. Law Office of David J. Stern, P.A., 198 So. 3d 1133, 2016 Fla. App. LEXIS 12810, 2016 WL 4493351 (Fla. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

ON MOTION FOR REHEARING OF ORDER GRANTING ATTORNEY’S FEES

GROSS, J.

We grant appellant Loren Banner’s motion for rehearing of our order granting appellate attorney’s fees to the defendants below,- who were appellees and cross-appellants in this court. We withdraw our order granting fees and substitute this opinion denying appellate attorney’s fees.

• Case law establishes that where there are multiple theories of liability directed at a set of facts, a defendant is entitled to recover fees for prevailing on a claim-under the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, .§■§ 501.201-.213, Florida Statutes (2014) (“FDUTPA”), if it prevails not only- on the FDUTPA claim, but also on all pleaded legal theories, such that it obtains a judgment in its favor on the entire case.

In his lawsuit against the defendants, Banner contended that their conduct violated both FDUTPA and the Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act, §§ 559.55-.785, Florida Statutes (2014) (“FCCPA”). The trial court entered a judgment in favor of Banner on the FCCPA issues; however, the court granted a summary final judgment against Banner on the FDUTPA claim. Both sides appealed. We affirmed the-trial court’s judgments in all respects.

Each side moved for appellate attorney’s fees. Section 559.77 governs fee entitlement under the FCCPA and section 501.2105 controls fee entitlement under FDUTPA. Banner was awarded fees pursuant to section 559.77(2); defendants were awarded fees under section 501.2105.

Defendants are •not entitled to section 501.2105 attorney’s fees because they did not receive a net judgment in their favor

Section 501.2105(1) provides:

In any civil litigation resulting from an act or practice involving a violation of this part ... the prevailing party, after judgment in the . trial court and exhaustion of all appeals, if any, may receive [1135]*1135his or her reasonable attorney’s fees and costs from the nonprevailing party.

The Florida Supreme Court has instructed that, "to recover attorney’s fees in a FDUTPA action, a party must prevail in the litigation; meaning that the party must receive a favorable judgment from a trial court with regard to the legal action, including the exhaustion of all appeals.” Diamond Aircraft Indus., Inc. v. Horowitch, 107 So.3d 362, 368 (Fla.2013) (citing Heindel v. Southside Chrysler-Plymouth, Inc., 476 So.2d 266, 270 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985)) (“In summary, we hold that to recover attorney’s fees a party must (1) recover judgment on the chapter 501, part II claim, and (2) recover a net judgment in the entire case.”).

In construing section 501.2105(1), Hein-del has read the statute’s reference to a “judgment” in “civil litigation” to refer to the entire case containing a FDUTPA claim,' such that the “prevailing party” must obtain a favorable judgment in the entire case, and not just the FDUTPA count, to recover FDUTPA fees.

The Heindel plaintiff sued Southside Chrysler-Plymouth over botched auto repairs, “on alternative theories of bailment, breach of contract, and deceptive trade practices in violation of chapter 501.” 476 So.2d at 267. At a jury trial, after Heindel concluded his case-in-chief, Southside successfully moved for a directed verdict ás to the FDUTPA claim, arguing there was no “consumer transaction.” Id. at 267-68. The jury returned a verdict for Heindel on the breach of contract and bailment claims. Id. at 268. Southside moved for attorney’s fees on the FDUTPA claim, which thé court granted pursuant to section 501.2105. Id.

On appeal, the first district focused on whether Southside was the “prevailing party” within the meaning of section 501.2105. Id. The court deterrhined that although Southside was found not liable under chapter 501, “no judgment was entered thereon because Southside did not allege and establish' any affirmative defense for relief_ Since ■ Southside. did not obtain a judgment in its favor, it is not entitled to attorney’s fees- under section 501.2105.” Id. at 269.

In settling on this- interpretation of the statute, the first district looked to the Florida Supreme Court’s decision in Hendry Tractor Co. v. Fernandez, 432 So.2d 1315 (Fla.1983), construing section 57.041, Florida Statutes (1979).1

In Hendry Tractor, the plaintiffs brought alternative counts for negligence and breach of warranty/strict liability. Id. The jury found Hendry Tractor liable for negligence, but not for breach of warranty/strict liability and awarded damages to the plaintiffs. Id. The trial court taxed costs for plaintiffs, but also taxed costs for Hendry Tractor reasoning that, because “Hendry had prevailed on the breach of warranty/strict liability count [it] should be awarded costs for that particular pqrtion of the litigation.” Id. at 1316.

The court in Hendry Tractor noted the plaintiffs had properly pled alternative theories of recovery based on a single transaction and that Hendry established no claims against plaintiffs. Id. Placing emphasis on the statutory wording that “the party recovering judgment” shall recover costs, the court held that “[n]et judgment was, without doubt, rendered in favor of the plaintiffs/Femandezes” and that they were “clearly the parties recovering judgment and' should be awarded costs.” Id.

[1136]*1136Applying the court’s reasoning in Hen-dry Tractor in Heindel, the first district explained:

Heindel sued Southside on alternative legal theories based on a single transaction and recovered a judgment for damages because he prevailed on two of the three counts alleged. Southside did not recover a judgment because the net judgment was in Heindel’s favor. Accordingly, Southside was not entitled to attorney’s fees because it was not the “prevailing party” recovering judgment under section 501.2105.

Id. at 269-70. Ultimately, the first district found- that neither party was entitled to fees under section 501.2105 because to recover fees under the statute “a party must (1) recover judgment on the 501, part II claim, and (2) recover a net judgment in the entire case.” Id. at 270. Neither party met both requirements. Id. at 270-71.

Under the Heindel application of section 501.2105, the defendants in this case are not entitled to a fee, since they did not obtain a favorable judgment in the entire case. See also CrossPointe, LLC v. Integrated Computing, Inc., 2007 WL 1192021 *4 (MLD.Fla. Apr. 20, 2007) (where the court relied on Heindel to hold that “to recover fees under Section 501.2105 the movant must also demonstrate that it recovered a net. judgment in the entire case.”).

Defendants rely on Diamond Aircraft to argue that they are the prevailing party on the FDUTPA claim entitled to attorney’s fees. We find Diamond Aircraft to be inapplicable because, unlike this case, it involved a defendant who prevailed on all causes of action in a case, such that the plaintiff recovered nothing.

In Diamond, the plaintiff Horowitch sued Diamond Aircraft in state court for specific performance, claiming Diamond Aircraft breached a contact. 107 So.3d at 365.

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Related

Hendry Tractor Co. v. Fernandez
432 So. 2d 1315 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1983)
Heindel v. Southside Chrysler-Plymouth, Inc.
476 So. 2d 266 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1985)
Rustic Village, Inc. v. Friedman
417 So. 2d 305 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1982)
Diamond Aircraft Industries, Inc. v. Horowitch
107 So. 3d 362 (Supreme Court of Florida, 2013)
Bull Motors, LLC v. Borders
132 So. 3d 1158 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2013)

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Bluebook (online)
198 So. 3d 1133, 2016 Fla. App. LEXIS 12810, 2016 WL 4493351, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/banner-v-law-office-of-david-j-stern-pa-fladistctapp-2016.