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Belniak v. McWilliams
Citation: 263 So. 3d 262Docket: Case No. 5D18-2171
Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida; January 31, 2019; Florida; State Appellate Court
Appellants Alfred and Marlene Belniak, having prevailed at trial, appealed an order that denied their motion to recover costs for an expert witness. The expert had testified at trial and in a costs hearing regarding the reasonableness of his fees. Although the trial court deemed the expert fee of $3,962.50 appropriate, it denied the motion because the Appellants did not present testimony from another expert in the same field to support the fee's reasonableness. The court reversed this decision, clarifying that a prevailing party only needs to provide substantial competent evidence of the services rendered and their reasonable value, which can come from the expert in question or another qualified expert. Therefore, the court directed that the trial court award the Appellants the expert witness fees of $3,962.50 upon remand. The decision was reversed and remanded with concurrence from Judges Berger and Grosshans.