Palm Beach Polo Holdings, Inc. v. Stewart Title Guaranty Co.

134 So. 3d 1073, 2014 WL 51929, 2014 Fla. App. LEXIS 153
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedJanuary 8, 2014
DocketNos. 4D11-4660, 12-231
StatusPublished

This text of 134 So. 3d 1073 (Palm Beach Polo Holdings, Inc. v. Stewart Title Guaranty Co.) 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
Palm Beach Polo Holdings, Inc. v. Stewart Title Guaranty Co., 134 So. 3d 1073, 2014 WL 51929, 2014 Fla. App. LEXIS 153 (Fla. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

MAY, J.

An insured property owner, Palm Beach Polo Holdings, Inc., challenges two final judgments entered in favor of its title insurer, Stewart Title Guaranty Company, in this consolidated appeal. Case number 11-4660 is an appeal from a final judgment for the insurer, reimbursing it for attorneys’ fees incurred when it represented the insured in an underlying property dispute. Case number 12-231 is an appeal of the trial court’s award of attorneys’ fees to the insurer, pursuant to section 57.105, Florida Statutes (2012). Multiple issues are raised. We find merit in one of them and reverse in part.

The Prequel

These appeals find their origin in a property dispute. The insured subdivided a parcel of property causing one parcel to become landlocked. The insured’s policy covered a “lack of a right of access to and from the land.” The policy stated that the insurer “will also pay the costs, attorneys’ fees and expenses incurred in defense of the title as insured, but only to the extent provided in the Conditions and Stipulations.” The conditions and stipulations provided that the insurer “will not pay fees, costs or expenses incurred by the insured in the defense of those causes of action which allege matters not insured against by this policy.”

Equestrian Club Estates (“Club”) owned a private road, which the insured wanted to use to access the landlocked parcel. The Club denied the insured access to the road. The insured made a demand on its title insurer, which retained counsel for the insured under a reservation of rights, to seek declaratory and injunctive relief for an implied grant of way over the Club’s road based on necessity. Following a non-jury trial, the court entered a final judgment in favor of the Club. It denied the insured a common-law way of necessity because the insured had created the lack of access by its own subdivision of the property. The trial court based its decision on the insured’s ownership of a second corporation that owned the adjoining parcel, which could be accessed from a public road.

The insured appealed the final judgment, and demanded that the insurer finance the appeal. The insurer denied coverage after entry of the final judgment in the underlying dispute, and did not finance the appeal. We affirmed. Palm Beach Polo Holdings, Inc. v. Equestrian Club Estates Prop. Owners Ass’n, 949 So.2d 347 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007).

The Sequel

But the insured’s dispute with the insurer did not stop there. The insured filed a two-count complaint against the insurer, alleging that it had (1) breached the insurance contract and (2) acted in bad faith when it denied coverage and refused to finance the appeal. The insurer answered the breach of contract claim, moved to dismiss the bad-faith claim as premature, and filed a counterclaim against the insured for reimbursement of the attorneys’ [1076]*1076fees and costs incurred during the trial in the underlying property dispute. The insurer also sought sanctions against the insured under section 57.105, Florida Statutes, alleging that the insured was judicially estopped from bringing these claims against the insurer. The trial court dismissed the bad-faith claim and granted sanctions, reserving jurisdiction to determine the amount.1

The insurer moved for a judgment on the pleadings on its counterclaim for reimbursement of the trial fees. It argued that our decision in the prior property-dispute appeal established the lack of coverage for the insured’s claim. And once it is determined that no coverage exists, an insurer is entitled to indemnification for attorneys’ fees and costs incurred in representing the insured under a reservation of rights. The reservation of rights stated that the insurer would provide representation, but it reserved the right to seek reimbursement if the action was later determined to not be covered under the policy.

The trial court held a hearing on the insurer’s motion for judgment on the pleadings.2 The insured argued that there is a difference between “defending” and “prosecuting” a claim. The policy only provided that the insurer will not pay fees for the “defense” of actions not insured against, thus the insured argued that the insurer was not entitled to reimbursement of fees for “prosecution” of an action, even if not insured against under the policy. The insurer pointed to its reservation-of-rights letter that offered to provide coverage for the insured’s access claim subject to the reservation of rights. The trial court granted the insurer’s motion for judgment on the pleadings.

This left only the amount of sanctions to be imposed under section 57.105, and the amount of attorneys’ fees the insured owed to the insurer for reimbursement from the trial on the underlying property dispute— the basis of the insurer’s counterclaim. The parties stipulated to most of the facts. The ease proceeded to trial, where a jury determined the amount of damages owed by the insured on the counterclaim, and the trial court determined the amount of sanctions under section 57.105.3

The insurer’s vice-president testified about the concept of title insurance, and that title insurers may defend an insured’s title by prosecuting a lawsuit. She also explained the concept of a reservation-of-rights letter, and the insurer’s entitlement to recover the cost of representing the insured. The insured attempted to admit the policy to distinguish between “defending” and “prosecuting” a claim. The insurer argued the policy was irrelevant because entitlement had already been determined. The trial court sustained the insurer’s objection.

The insurer then called an attorney from the law firm that represented the insured in the property dispute to explain the difference between defending and prosecut[1077]*1077ing a claim. The attorney provided the following:

In the title insurance world, and when you defend somebody’s title, sometimes you have to defend their title by prosecuting what you would think of as prosecuting a claim. Just like if, if somebody accosted your child or your wife or somebody on the street and said, “I’m going to beat you up, I’m going to take your money,” you might defend that person’s honor by prosecuting or attacking that person, so that’s the sense that it’s used in title insurance defense.

The insurer also called an expert witness, who testified that he had reviewed the files and billings from the property-dispute litigation. He testified about the attorney’s reputation for professionalism in the community, that the hourly rate of $175 was “extremely reasonable,” and that a reasonable fee was $156,870 for approximately 896.4 hours of work. In arriving at his conclusion, the expert considered the list of factors identified in the Rules Regulating the Florida Bar. He found that the law firm had incurred costs of $15,963.20, for a total of $172,853.20. Following the expert’s testimony, the insurer rested.

The insured moved for a directed verdict and argued: (1) that the law firm was retained for the sole purpose of seeking affirmative relief by “prosecuting” the claim for implied way of necessity; (2) that the policy “specifically distinguishes between defending a case and prosecuting a claim”; and (3) that because attorneys’ fees provisions are strictly construed, the insured should be granted a directed verdict.

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Bluebook (online)
134 So. 3d 1073, 2014 WL 51929, 2014 Fla. App. LEXIS 153, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/palm-beach-polo-holdings-inc-v-stewart-title-guaranty-co-fladistctapp-2014.