Geico General Insurance Company v. Brooke Tsao and BenjaminTsao

CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedMarch 28, 2025
Docket5D2023-3413
StatusPublished

This text of Geico General Insurance Company v. Brooke Tsao and BenjaminTsao (Geico General Insurance Company v. Brooke Tsao and BenjaminTsao) 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
Geico General Insurance Company v. Brooke Tsao and BenjaminTsao, (Fla. Ct. App. 2025).

Opinion

FIFTH DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL STATE OF FLORIDA _____________________________

Case No. 5D2023-3413 LT Case No. 2019-CA-8936 _____________________________

GEICO GENERAL INSURANCE COMPANY,

Appellant,

v.

BROOKE TSAO and BENJAMIN TSAO,

Appellees. _____________________________

On appeal from the Circuit Court for Duval County. Virginia Norton, Judge.

Caryn L. Bellus and Barbara E. Fox, of Kubicki Draper, Miami, for Appellant.

E. Aaron Sprague, C. Rufus Pennington, III, William C. Gentry, and Chelsea R. Harris, of Coker Law, Jacksonville, for Appellee, Brooke Tsao.

No Appearance for Appellee, Benjamin Tsao.

March 28, 2025

MACIVER, J.

GEICO General Insurance Company appeals the trial court’s order awarding attorney’s fees and costs to Brooke Tsao, pursuant to section 768.79, Florida Statutes (2023). The award of attorney’s fees and costs was based on the trial court’s entry of a final judgment in favor of Tsao. We recently reversed the final judgment in favor of Tsao and remanded for a new trial. See GEICO Gen. Ins. Co. v. Tsao, 397 So. 3d 1186, 1191 (Fla. 5th DCA 2024).

Because we reversed the final judgment, we must reverse the trial court’s order awarding attorney’s fees and costs to Tsao. See Kempton v. McComb, 266 So. 3d 272, 273 (Fla. 5th DCA 2019) (reversing order awarding attorney’s fees and costs pursuant to section 768.79 where appellate court reversed trial court’s final judgment); Hodge v. Cichon, 79 So. 3d 950 (Fla. 5th DCA 2012) (reversing order granting attorney’s fees pursuant to section 768.79 where appellate court reversed trial court’s order granting final summary judgment in favor of appellees).

REVERSED.

EDWARDS, C.J., and HARRIS, J., concur.

_____________________________

Not final until disposition of any timely and authorized motion under Fla. R. App. P. 9.330 or 9.331. _____________________________

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Related

Hodge v. Cichon
79 So. 3d 950 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2012)
Kempton v. McComb
266 So. 3d 272 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2019)

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Bluebook (online)
Geico General Insurance Company v. Brooke Tsao and BenjaminTsao, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/geico-general-insurance-company-v-brooke-tsao-and-benjamintsao-fladistctapp-2025.