Santos v. 47 Service Station, Inc.

District Court of Appeal of Florida

Santos v. 47 Service Station, Inc.

613 So. 2d 547, 1993 Fla. App. LEXIS 1271, 1993 WL 20365

CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida

DecidedFebruary 2, 1993

DocketNo. 92-1246

StatusPublished

Cited by2 cases

This text of 613 So. 2d 547 (Santos v. 47 Service Station, Inc.) 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

Santos v. 47 Service Station, Inc., 613 So. 2d 547, 1993 Fla. App. LEXIS 1271, 1993 WL 20365 (Fla. Ct. App. 1993).

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Opinion

PER CURIAM.

As correctly conceded by the appellee, the award of attorney’s fees in this case was improper due to the fact that the record does not reflect any statutory or contractual basis for such an award. Accordingly, the trial court’s award of attorney’s fees herein is reversed.

The trial court was correct in denying the motion to set aside the default based on its finding of “no good cause shown”. Clearly, under the law of this State, the fact that a defendant does not understand English, standing alone, is not a sufficient basis to make a finding of excusable neglect in connection with the defendant’s failure to file a timely response after having been served with a Complaint. The record below does not contain any evidence regarding the defendant’s sophistication or education, or lack thereof, which might have caused the trial court to reach a contrary result on this point.

Lastly, the trial court was eminently correct in entering a judgment against the defendant in this case without first holding a jury trial since the damages sought by the plaintiff were liquidated damages.

Affirmed in part and reversed in part.

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PER CURIAM.

As correctly conceded by the appellee, the award of attorney’s fees in this case was improper due to the fact that the record does not reflect any statutory or contractual basis for such an award. Accordingly, the trial court’s award of attorney’s fees herein is reversed.

The trial court was correct in denying the motion to set aside the default based on its finding of “no good cause shown”. Clearly, under the law of this State, the fact that a defendant does not understand English, standing alone, is not a sufficient basis to make a finding of excusable neglect in connection with the defendant’s failure to file a timely response after having been served with a Complaint. The record below does not contain any evidence regarding the defendant’s sophistication or education, or lack thereof, which might have caused the trial court to reach a contrary result on this point.

Lastly, the trial court was eminently correct in entering a judgment against the defendant in this case without first holding a jury trial since the damages sought by the plaintiff were liquidated damages.

Affirmed in part and reversed in part.

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613 So. 2d 547, 1993 Fla. App. LEXIS 1271, 1993 WL 20365, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/santos-v-47-service-station-inc-fladistctapp-1993.

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