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Preyer v. Aries Insurance Co.
Citations: 774 So. 2d 958; 2001 Fla. App. LEXIS 464; 2001 WL 50464Docket: No. 1D00-876
Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida; January 16, 2001; Florida; State Appellate Court
The court dismissed Appellants’ appeal concerning lower court orders that granted summary judgment and denied their motion for rehearing on June 12, 2000, with a subsequent denial of rehearing on July 28, 2000. Appellants further sought review of orders that awarded Appellee costs and partial attorney’s fees. The court affirmed the cost order without discussion and upheld the attorney’s fees award, citing section 57.105, Florida Statutes (1997), which allowed Appellee to receive $2,493.00 for post-judgment attorney’s fees incurred from July 14, 1999, to February 4, 2000, in response to Appellants’ frivolous motion for rehearing. The court referenced prior case law, noting that fees are generally not recoverable in non-frivolous cases, as established in *Patsy v. Patsy*. However, in *Avemco Insurance Co. v. Tobin*, the court allowed for fees in cases involving wholly frivolous defenses. In this instance, the litigation had concluded, and Appellants’ untimely motion was deemed untenable and collateral to the main complaint. Regarding the appropriateness of the fee amount, the court found no error due to the absence of a hearing transcript, which hindered the ability to review the trial court's decision. The court concluded by affirming both the award of costs and attorney’s fees. The court noted that the revised version of section 57.105 was not effective until after Appellee initiated the fee motion and Appellants filed their frivolous motion. Judges BOOTH, MINER, and KAHN concurred with the decision.