Jennifer Laird and Fernando Lopez v. Yun Miao

• Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida
• Decided: February 6, 2026
• Docket: 5D2024-2466
• Status: Published

Opinion

FIFTH DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL STATE OF FLORIDA _____________________________

Case No. 5D2024-2466 LT Case No. 05-2019-CC-42661 _____________________________

JENNIFER LAIRD and FERNANDO LOPEZ,

Appellants,

v.

YUN MIAO,

Appellee. _____________________________

On appeal from the County Court for Brevard County. Kathryn C. Jacobus, Judge.

Blake Stewart, of Stewart Law CS, LLC, Rockledge, for Appellants.

Elizabeth Siano Harris, of Harris Appellate Law Office, Mims, for Appellee.

February 6, 2026

PER CURIAM.

Appellants challenge the “Final Judgment on Amount of Trial Attorney’s Fees and Costs” entered in their favor against Appellee after evidentiary hearings. Appellants contend that the trial court reversibly erred in determining the amount of the attorney’s fees award and in also failing to apply a multiplier. We affirm on all issues raised by Appellants without further discussion, except one. We agree with Appellants that the trial court erred in failing to award them prejudgment interest on the attorney’s fees award. See Quality Engineered Installation, Inc. v. Higley S., Inc., 670 So. 2d 929, 930–31 (Fla. 1996).

Accordingly, we reverse on this issue and remand for the trial court to enter an amended final judgment that computes and awards prejudgment interest from September 21, 2023, until the date the final judgment on appeal was entered.

AFFIRMED, in part; REVERSED, in part; REMANDED, with directions.

LAMBERT, EISNAUGLE, and BOATWRIGHT, JJ., concur.

_____________________________

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